Korea's Daewoong to export diabetes drug Envlo to Brazil, Mexico

South Korea’s Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co. said on Feb. 24 it is set to embark on global sales of Envlo, a new drug for diabetes, by exporting it to Brazil and Mexico.

Through the $84.4 million deal, the Korean biotech will supply the medicine to M8 Pharmaceuticals Inc., which is specializing in drug licensing and commercialization in Latin America. M8, formerly moksha8, is set to step up local marketing approval procedures and release the products in the second half of 2024.

Alongside China, India and the US, Brazil is one of the top nations in terms of the number of diabetic patients. The country and Mexico account for about 70% of the diabetes drug market in Latin America.

Envlo is a sodium-glucose cotransporter (SGLT) 2 inhibitor, which is used for diet and exercise to lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes.

The product, with a smaller amount of SGLT2 inhibitors, has proved equivalent efficacy to other diabetes drugs, according to Daewoong. It has also shown a significant effect on reducing hemoglobinA1c, which is used to measure blood sugar levels, via its phase 3 clinical trials, Daewoong added.

The Korean drugmaker won the marketing license for Envlo in Korea last November. It is aiming to sell Envlo in 15 countries by 2025 and 50 nations by 2030.

M8 has released Daewoong’s drugs in Latin America including Nabota, a botulinum toxin, and Fexuprazan, a treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Write to Min-Soo Han at hms@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.