Hanmi Pharmaceutical's obesity drug Efe (efpeglenatide) is awaiting approval. The industry puts its monthly starting-dose factory price at around KRW 150,000, below Wegovy's starting dose at about KRW 210,000 and Mounjaro's at about KRW 270,000. At the pharmacy counter, Wegovy averages about KRW 250,000 and Mounjaro about KRW 300,000, and the industry expects Efe to average around KRW 200,000.
That is why people hope a homegrown drug will make obesity shots cheaper. Korea's obesity-shot prices, higher than in neighboring countries, add to that hope. There is a precedent: Wegovy cut its price last year ahead of Mounjaro's launch. But 85% of the Korean market is now held by Mounjaro, not Wegovy. For what patients pay, the market leader's response may matter as much as Efe's price tag.
- What Efe is, and when it arrives
Efe is a once-a-week GLP-1 obesity injection. GLP-1 is a hormone in the body that curbs appetite, and Wegovy and Mounjaro are once-weekly shots in the same class. Hanmi applied to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for approval at the end of last year, and the industry sees a good chance of approval in October.
The company settled on the name Efe in July and says production and distribution are ready so it can launch as soon as it is approved. Depending on timing, it could launch as early as the second half of this year. In the company's phase 3 trial of 448 Koreans, average weight loss after 40 weeks was 9.75%. Its rate of stomach and gut side effects was 50%, lower than in Wegovy's overseas trials (68% and 74%), though that compares different trials side by side.
- Wegovy has already cut its price once
Wegovy launched in Korea first, in 2024, and led the market. At first, every dose had the same wholesale price of KRW 372,000. Last year, ahead of Mounjaro's launch, it began pricing by dose and cut the 0.25mg dose to KRW 210,000. Cuts ranged from 10% to as much as 42% depending on the dose, while the highest dose kept its original price.
Today the latecomer leads. According to one research firm, last month Mounjaro held 85% of Korea's obesity-drug market and Wegovy 9%. Wegovy came first and cut its price, yet it is no longer No. 1.
- Mounjaro costs 2.6-3.5x more in Korea than in Japan
Next to other countries, Korean prices are on the high side. For four weeks of Mounjaro at 7.5-10mg, Korea's supply price is KRW 520,000. Japan's insurance list price is KRW 150,000-200,000, and a Chinese online pharmacy sells the 10mg pen for KRW 200,000, so Korea is at least 2.6 times more expensive. It is also higher than the UK's public (NHS) price of KRW 460,000.
| Market | Mounjaro 7.5-10mg | Wegovy 2.4mg | Price basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Korea | KRW 520,000 ($384) | KRW 370,000 ($272) | Supply price (pharmacy price is higher) |
| Japan | KRW 150,000-200,000 ($110-147) | KRW 350,000 ($257) | Insurance list price (patients pay 30%) |
| China | KRW 200,000 ($145, 10mg) | KRW 260,000 ($191) | Online discount / government procurement price |
| U.S. | KRW 610,000 ($449) | KRW 470,000 ($349) | Manufacturer self-pay price |
| Germany | KRW 590,000 ($437) | KRW 430,000 ($316) | Pharmacy price (self-pay) |
| U.K. | KRW 460,000 ($338) | KRW 320,000 ($233) | Public (NHS) list price |
Four weeks' supply, converted to won at Sept. 28, 2026 exchange rates. The U.S. Mounjaro figure is the vial price of Zepbound, the same drug sold for obesity.
In the U.S. and Germany, patients paying out of pocket pay KRW 590,000-610,000, more than Korea's supply price. But Korea's KRW 520,000 is before the pharmacy markup, so patients at the pharmacy pay more. For Wegovy 2.4mg, too, Korea's KRW 370,000 is higher than Japan, China and the UK.
- Efe's price is Hanmi's big decision
Hanmi has not set a supply price yet. Talk inside and outside the company puts the four-week supply price in the KRW 100,000 range. The company aims to make Efe a blockbuster with annual sales of KRW 100 billion or more. The catch: the lower the price, the more prescriptions it needs to hit that goal.
Prescription records from Korea's health insurance review agency (DUR) show Mounjaro was prescribed 1.5 million times in the 10 months from its August 2025 launch to May this year, and Wegovy 1.23 million times from its October 2024 launch to May this year. Recent prescriptions for the two drugs are estimated at about 210,000 a month, or about 2.52 million a year.
For Efe to earn KRW 100 billion a year, it would need 1 million prescriptions at KRW 100,000 each, 670,000 at KRW 150,000, or 500,000 at KRW 200,000. If the two drugs' prescription volume stays the same, that means taking 40%, 27% or 20% of it, respectively.
- A domestic factory is the basis for a lower price
Wegovy and Mounjaro are imported as finished products. Efe is made at Hanmi's own plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. Making it at home saves on logistics and distribution, which is cited as the reason it can be priced lower.
Prices are coming down abroad too. According to a March report, Novo Nordisk, the Danish maker of Wegovy, plans to cut U.S. wholesale prices for Wegovy and related drugs by about 35-50% from Jan. 1 next year. From that same month, patents on Wegovy's key ingredient expired in China, India, Brazil and elsewhere, and cheap generics were expected.
- Who cuts prices first?
Analysts say that if Efe launches as cheaply as expected, existing drugs may adjust their prices, since a cheaper newcomer can take away prescriptions. Another view is that patients who held off because of cost may start treatment, growing the market itself.
But among the existing drugs, Wegovy has already cut once. Whether Mounjaro, with 85% of the market, touches its price may matter more for what patients pay. And because these drugs are not covered by insurance, actual prices still vary from pharmacy to pharmacy.
- BITPRESS Insight
Efe could fire the first shot in a price war. With Mounjaro in Korea costing at least 2.6 times what it does in Japan or China, there is plenty of room for prices to fall. But Wegovy has already cut once, and its share is 9%. For a real price war, Mounjaro, which holds 85% of the market, has to follow.
For Hanmi, price is a balancing act between market share and profit. At KRW 150,000, Efe needs 27% of the two drugs' current prescriptions to reach KRW 100 billion. The cheaper it sells, the more patients it must win.
The rule of thumb fits in one line. Whether a new drug brings prices down depends less on its own price tag than on whether the market leader follows with a cut.
Sources
https://news.bizwatch.co.kr/article/healthcare/2026/09/23/0033
https://www.huffingtonpost.kr/article/260587
https://www.monews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=413174
https://www.kpanews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=530558
https://zdnet.co.kr/view/?no=20250813131653
https://dailypharm.com/user/news/342441
https://yakkalab.jp/drug/2499422G3027
https://health.baidu.com/malls/goods/db2c_174055372644938019_2318184752363716608
https://www.cls.cn/detail/2241765
https://www.pharmexec.com/view/lilly-reduces-price-of-zepbound-single-dose-vials-for-self-pay-patients
https://www.novocare.com/pharmacy/wegovy.html
https://www.medipreis.de/preisvergleich/mounjaro-7-5-mg-dosis-kwikpen-inj-lsg-fertigpen-1-st-lilly-deutschland-gmbh-18241201
https://cpe.org.uk/our-news/mounjaro-reimbursement-prices-redetermined-for-september-2025/
https://www.myjuniper.co.uk/articles/wegovy-cost
Glossary
GLP-1 — A hormone released after eating that curbs appetite; Wegovy, Mounjaro and Efe are all injections in this class.
Factory price — The price a drugmaker charges wholesalers; the pharmacy price is higher because distribution margins are added on top.
without national health insurance coverage — A drug not covered by national health insurance, so patients pay the full cost and prices can differ between pharmacies.
Product approval — The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's approval that allows a new drug to be sold.
Copycat drugs — A drug made by another company with the same ingredient as an off-patent drug, usually cheaper than the original.
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