Regeneron Bets Nearly $2 Billion on Chinese Obesity Drug to Revive Pipeline

Jun 03, 2025 08:24 CST Updated 08:24

Hansoh Pharma

Pharmaceutical Research, Production, and Sales

On June 2, 2025, Regeneron announced a major collaboration with Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group, investing nearly $2 billion to acquire the development rights for the GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist HS-20094. This deal comes amid Regeneron's pipeline setbacks and stock price volatility, highlighting the intense competition and strategic bets among multinational pharmaceutical companies in the weight-loss drug market.

I. A Bold Gamble Amidst Stock Price Turmoil: $20 Billion Bet on Chinese Innovation

Regeneron's collaboration with Hansoh Pharma includes an $80 million upfront payment and up to $1.93 billion in development, regulatory, and sales milestone payments. The core asset of the deal is HS-20094, a late-stage GLP-1/GIP dual agonist, for which Hansoh Pharma is conducting a Phase III trial involving approximately 1,000 patients receiving once-weekly subcutaneous injections. Regeneron stated that HS-20094 has "demonstrated promising efficacy and safety clinical data," suggesting it may share similar characteristics with Eli Lilly's Mounjaro, the only FDA-approved GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist.

The backdrop of this deal is Regeneron's recent stock price turbulence. After itepekimab, a follow-up drug to Dupixent co-developed with Sanofi, delivered disappointing results in a Phase III trial for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Regeneron’s shares plummeted over 16% last week, closing at $490.28 on Friday, and further dropped by 1.6% to $482.39 at Monday’s opening. BMO Capital Markets noted that this failure "sounded an alarm for Regeneron at a time when the company urgently needed a win."

2. Pipeline Synergy: From Single Weight Loss to Multi-Disease Layout

Regeneron Plans to Test HS-20094 in Combination with Molecules from Its Existing Pipeline, Says Senior Vice President Boaz Hirshberg, Aiming to "Comprehensively Address Obesity-Related Muscle Loss and Other Comorbidities Such as Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, and Liver Disease." This Strategy Stems from Regeneron's Previous Collaboration with Novo Nordisk — The Company Had Tested the Combination of Its Muscle-Protection Antibodies Trevogrumab (Anti-GDF8/Anti-Myostatin Antibody) and Garetosmab (Anti-Activin A Antibody) with Semaglutide.

Five minutes before the announcement of the deal with Hansoh Pharma, Regeneron released data from the Phase II COURAGE trial: the addition of trevogrumab improved muscle preservation by 51.3%, and when combined with garetosmab, it increased to 80.9%. Meanwhile, the total body weight reductions for the two-drug and three-drug regimens reached 11.3% and 13.2%, respectively, surpassing the 10.4% achieved with semaglutide alone. However, BMO analysts also noted that the safety of myostatin activin therapy remains questionable, with 10.1% of patients experiencing severe adverse reactions and 28.3% discontinuing treatment entirely. Thus, a "cautious" stance on muscle-protective therapies is advised until Phase III data becomes available.

3. Weight Loss Drug Market: The Battle for Innovation in China Among Multinational Pharmaceutical Companies

Regeneron's collaboration marks its official entry into the GLP-1 field, and the choice to partner with a Chinese pharmaceutical company for development highlights China's significant role in innovative drug research. In recent years, Chinese biopharmaceutical companies have made rapid progress in the field of metabolic diseases, with Hansoh Pharma's HS-20094 being one of the key representatives.

At the same time, the global weight-loss drug market is experiencing explosive growth. GLP-1 drugs such as Eli Lilly's Mounjaro and Novo Nordisk's Wegovy have demonstrated astonishing market potential, attracting numerous pharmaceutical companies to enter the field. Regeneron’s competitors are also actively positioning themselves in this space, with companies like Novartis and Pfizer increasing their investments. Meanwhile, Regeneron is attempting to gain an early advantage in this popular sector by collaborating with Chinese pharmaceutical companies.

4. Future Challenges: Efficacy, Safety, and Market Competition

Despite the promising early data of HS-20094, Regeneron still faces multiple challenges. The first is the verification of efficacy; the results of Phase III trials will directly determine the drug's market prospects. The second is safety issues—how to avoid or reduce adverse reactions such as muscle loss while promoting weight loss is a key problem that Regeneron needs to address. Additionally, market competition will become increasingly fierce. Apart from existing competing products already on the market, numerous drugs in development are about to enter the market, and Regeneron will need to demonstrate strong execution in commercialization.

For Regeneron, this nearly $2 billion bet is a "do-or-die" situation. If HS-20094 can successfully reach the market and secure a position, it is expected to reverse the company’s困境 caused by setbacks in its pipeline, bringing new growth momentum. However, if it fails, it will not only result in a significant financial loss but may also further impact the company’s stock price and market confidence.

In today's increasingly competitive biopharmaceutical industry, collaborations between multinational pharmaceutical companies and Chinese innovative drug enterprises are becoming a trend. This partnership between Regeneron and Hansoh Pharma is not only a strategic gamble for Regeneron itself but also reflects changes and development trends in the global pharmaceutical market landscape. In the future, whether this Chinese weight-loss drug can stand out in the global market and whether Regeneron can use this to stage a remarkable comeback are worth continued attention.

Source: https://www.biospace.com/business/amid-rough-waters-regeneron-puts-nearly-2b-on-the-line-for-chinese-obesity-drug

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