Daewoong Pharmaceutical said Wednesday it has signed an exclusive global licensing agreement with its R&D affiliate, Daewoong Therapeutics, to commercialize microneedle-based therapies targeting the fast-growing obesity treatment market.
Under the agreement, Daewoong Pharmaceutical secured exclusive worldwide commercialization rights to a patented microneedle patch platform developed by Daewoong Therapeutics. In return, it will lead the global marketing, regulatory strategy and large-scale manufacturing of products built on the technology.
Microneedle drug delivery has long been constrained by dose limitations and manufacturing complexity. Daewoong Therapeutics said it has overcome those hurdles with a proprietary process that enables high drug loads to be embedded in roughly 100 microneedles on a coin-sized patch. The platform is designed to deliver therapies traditionally administered by injection through a simple skin application.
The partnership centers on metabolic disease, particularly obesity. Daewoong is developing a microneedle patch formulation incorporating GLP-1 receptor agonists such as semaglutide, one of the most widely used weight-loss drugs globally.
The semaglutide patch is currently undergoing Phase 1 clinical trials. The company plans to expand its use to maintenance therapy for long-term weight management, ultimately building a pipeline that spans the full obesity treatment cycle.
“Strategic open innovation — sharing commercialization risk with specialized technology partners in exchange for exclusive rights — is a core competitive strength for Daewoong,” said Park Seong-soo, CEO of Daewoong Pharmaceutical. “Through this agreement, we aim to capture opportunities in the rapidly expanding global obesity market with our microneedle patch platform.”
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