Hansoh Pharma's Domestic Weight-Loss Drug HS-20094 Secures $2 Billion Global Licensing Deal with Regeneron

On June 2, Regeneron announced a collaboration with Hansoh Pharma to acquire global rights outside of China for HS-20094.Hansoh Pharma Receives Upfront Payment of $80 Million, Development, Regulatory and Commercial Milestone Payments up to $1.93 Billion, and Royalties Based on Product Sales.

HS-20094 is a GLP-1/GIP dual receptor agonist, sharing the same target as Eli Lilly's blockbuster drug tirzepatide. Regeneron stated that the observed data indicates HS-20094 has a "potential efficacy and safety profile" similar to tirzepatide.

Currently, HS-20094 is undergoing Phase III clinical trials in China for the indications of obesity and overweight. Additionally, Phase II clinical trials for Type 2 diabetes are also underway.

Previously, Regeneron had made multiple attempts in the weight loss field, including efforts to develop long-acting GLP-1R agonist ATDCs (antibody-tethered drug conjugates): conjugating an antagonism-free GLP-1R antibody with a GLP-1RA to enhance the stability and half-life of GLP-1 peptide analogs.

Later, they also turned their attention to the "fat reduction and muscle gain" field, exploring the dual functions of semaglutide + trevogrumab (anti-GDF8/anti-myostatin) with or without garetosmab (anti-activin A) combination therapy in weight loss and muscle protection.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Spends Over $2 Billion to Acquire Hansoh Pharma's GLP-1/GIP Dual Receptor Agonist

01

"The Midlife Crisis of the 'Antibody King'"

As a Biotech pioneer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has established itself with its excellent technology platform and gained considerable fame in the field of antibody macromolecule drugs, successively creatingAflibercept, DupilumabTwo blockbuster drugs worth tens of billions of dollars.

Relying on the strong performance of these two major products, Regeneron's market value reached $133 billion in 2024.

However, entering 2025, the landscape of global blockbuster drugs is undergoing significant changes, with GLP-1 drugs leading the growth, while aflibercept and dupilumab encounter bottlenecks.

Eylea Series (Aflibercept and Its High-Dose Version) Faces Generic Competition Post-Patent Expiry and Iterative Competition from Roche's VEGF-A/Ang2 Bispecific Antibody Vabysmo, Leading to a Significant Sales Decline. Regeneron's Financial Report Shows That Eylea Series' U.S. Market Sales in Q1 2025 Were $1.043 Billion, a Year-on-Year Decrease of 26%. Global Sales (Including the Bayer Collaboration Portion) Were $1.901 Billion, a Year-on-Year Decrease of 16%.

Dupixent (dupilumab), despite successfully claiming the top spot as the "blockbuster drug" in autoimmune diseases, has experienced sluggish growth due to challenges in expanding new indications. In Q1 2025, the drug's global sales reached €3.48 billion, representing a year-over-year increase of 20.3%. However, the quarter-over-quarter growth was only 0.69% compared to the previous quarter.

In addition to the two blockbuster products, aflibercept and dupilumab, Regeneron also has a PD-1 inhibitor, Libtayo, but its sales growth has been slow, only just breaking through the billion-dollar mark in 2024, making it hard to compete with the former two heavyweights.

In terms of drugs under research, Regeneron has widely deployed in multiple fields such as anti-tumor bispecific antibodies, the new generation of immunological drug Itepekimab, AAV gene therapy DB-OTO, and combination therapies for obesity.

But these pipelines have been repeatedly frustrated.

The Phase III trial AERIFY-1 for IL-33 monoclonal antibody Itepekimab in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) met its primary endpoint, but the Phase III trial AERIFY-2 did not achieve the same primary endpoint. The inconsistency in the results of the two studies requires further data analysis.

Although Odronextamab and Linvoseltamab, two bispecific antibodies for hematological tumors, have been approved in the EU, they faced setbacks in the U.S. market, losing a significant market.

Under the dual pressures of intensified competition for core products and pipeline progress setbacks, Regeneron's market value plummeted by 60%, currently standing at approximately $53 billion.

02

Heavy Bets on the Weight Loss Track

Under pressure, Regeneron has placed its bets on combination therapies for obesity.

Currently, trevogrumab is Regeneron's leading pipeline in the obesity field, a monoclonal antibody targeting GDF8. Regeneron recently announced the data from the Phase 2 COURAGE study:Adding trevogrumab can increase muscle retention by 51.3%, and further adding garetosmab can boost the retention rate to 80.9%.Moreover, the combination regimens of two drugs and three drugsThe overall weight loss was 11.3% and 13.2%, respectively.Better than 10.4% with semaglutide alone.

However, the safety of this combination therapy has been questioned, with 10.1% of patients experiencing serious adverse reactions and 28.3% of patients discontinuing treatment entirely.

In any case, this combination therapy is a promising new weight loss solution.

Based on this, Regeneron quickly partnered with Chinese pharmaceutical company Hansoh Pharma to introduce HS-20094, a GLP-1/GIP dual receptor agonist in the late clinical stage.The purpose is to pair with its existing pipeline trevogrumab as a combination drug,To form an advantage in the "fat reduction and muscle gain" fieldTrends, and explore applications in other comorbidities, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and liver disease.

HS-20094 for weight management in overweight adult patients with obesity or at least one weight-related comorbidity has entered Phase III clinical trials in 2024.

Hansoh Pharma Presented Phase II Clinical Trial Data of HS-20094 at the 2024 EASD Annual Meeting. The study involved a total of 54 subjects who received at least one dose of HS-20094, semaglutide, or placebo.

On Day 23, compared with placebo, HS-20094 significantly reduced the blood glucose AUC0-2h in the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in a dose-dependent manner. The reduction in the HS-20094 15mg group was significantly greater than that in the semaglutide 1.0mg group. On Day 23, compared with placebo, the blood glucose levels at 0 minutes and 120 minutes in the OGTT were significantly decreased in all dose groups of HS-20094. On Day 29, compared with placebo, HbA1c was significantly reduced in all dose groups of HS-20094 and in the semaglutide group. Body weight in all dose groups of HS-20094 showed a continuous decrease in a dose-dependent manner, and the reductions were all significantly better than those in the placebo group. The decrease in body weight from baseline in the HS-20094 15mg group was significantly better than that in the semaglutide group (3.29kg vs 1.27kg, p=0.0024).

In terms of safety, among the reported adverse events (AEs), the vast majority (98%) were mild or moderate. No serious adverse events related to the drug were reported, no discontinuation due to adverse events, no deaths, and no severe hypoglycemic events.

With the addition of HS-20094, Regeneron is poised to create another blockbuster therapy in the weight loss field.

Currently, the Chinese market has become an important strategic procurement source for global pharmaceutical companies. Whether it is biotechnology firms striving to break through performance bottlenecks or large pharmaceutical enterprises seeking to secure a competitive position, China's innovative pipeline offers a cost-effective choice.

In the GLP-1 field, besides Regeneron, companies such as Merck, Novo Nordisk, and AstraZeneca have also introduced candidate drugs from Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises, demonstrating the significant global competitiveness of China's pharmaceutical innovation in terms of cost control, R&D efficiency, and differentiated innovation.

Summary of GLP-1 Drug Transactions Produced in China in Recent Years

Data Source: Pharmcube Data, Public Information Compilation

Source: YAOZHI Network

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