Regeneron licenses late-stage GLP-1/GIP obesity drug from Hansoh Pharma

Regeneron has licensed an experimental GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist from Hansoh Pharma, a Chinese drugmaker, adding an incretin obesity candidate to its pipeline. Regeneron is paying $80 million upfront and could pay up to about $1.93 billion in milestone payments for rights everywhere except mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, which Hansoh retains ^[1].

The compound is a dual agonist, meaning it is designed to act on two gut-hormone receptors at once, GLP-1 and GIP. It is described as Phase 3-ready, the stage of testing that comes before a company files for regulatory approval ^[1]. No Phase 3 results for this specific compound have been reported, and the drug's name, dose, trial design and start dates have not been disclosed.

The GLP-1/GIP combination is already being pursued elsewhere. Roche's CT-388 is described as a "potential best-in-class GLP-1/GIP receptor dual agonist," and Roche is developing it alongside Zealand Pharma's amylin analog petrelintide, which is a different hormone approach ^[1]. Tirzepatide, sold as Mounjaro and Zepbound, is the marketed medicine in the GLP-1/GIP class.

The Regeneron-Hansoh agreement is one of several obesity deals signed in 2025. Roche and Zealand Pharma struck a $5.3 billion collaboration in March, with Zealand receiving $1.65 billion upfront, up to $1.2 billion in development milestones and up to $2.4 billion in sales milestones ^[1]. Novo Nordisk agreed to pay $2.2 billion to Septerna in May for oral small-molecule programs aimed at GLP-1, GIP and glucagon receptors ^[1]. Eli Lilly signed a $1.3 billion artificial-intelligence-based pact with Superluminal Medicines ^[1]. AbbVie licensed Gubra's amylin analog GUB014295 for $350 million upfront and up to $1.875 billion in milestones ^[1]. Novo Nordisk also agreed to a $2 billion deal with The United Laboratories for UBT251, a GLP-1/GIP/glucagon triple agonist that had produced an average weight loss of 15.1% from baseline at the highest 6 mg subcutaneous dose in a Phase 1b trial ^[1].

Across these deals, the pattern is the same: large pharmaceutical companies are paying for experimental metabolic drugs from smaller developers to expand pipelines built around current GLP-1 products, with the stated goals of addressing tolerability, durability and supply constraints ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

Nothing about today's prescriptions changes because of this deal. No product covered here is approved for weight loss, and no Phase 3 results have been reported for the Hansoh compound, so there is no evidence yet about how much weight it helps people lose or how well it is tolerated ^[1]. Paying for a license is not the same as showing a drug works.

The practical effect, if these programs succeed, is more choices in a drug class where patients sometimes switch because of side effects, cost or supply problems. The 2025 dealmaking described here is aimed at exactly those gaps — tolerability, how long weight loss lasts and manufacturing supply — though whether any individual candidate solves them will not be known until late-stage trials report ^[1].

A drug that is Phase 3-ready is still years away from a pharmacy shelf in the best case, and most experimental obesity drugs that enter late-stage testing do not reach the market. Patients currently taking semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus) or tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) are not affected by this licensing agreement.

What happens next

The license was announced in June 2025 ^[1]. The milestones tied to the deal, and the specific development or sales targets that trigger them, have not been reported, and neither has a start date for the Phase 3 program. The first public signal to watch would be registration of a late-stage trial for the Hansoh compound, along with any disclosed results from earlier studies.