M8 Pharmaceuticals and Daewoong Pharmaceuticals announced they have signed an exclusive licensing agreement whereby M8 will have the rights to register and commercialize Envlo (Enavoglifozin) for Brazil and Mexico. The novel drug Envlo (Enavoglifozin) is a SGLT2 (sodium glucose cotransporter 2) inhibitor type diabetes treatment, and last November, it has received a regulatory approval in South Korea. Phase 3 clinical trials have been performed on type 2 diabetes patients and its results demonstrated excellent effects in dropping blood sugar level drop.

The safety of Envlo has been confirmed and proven to show equal medicinal effect with only 0.3mg, which is 1/30 of the amount of existing SGLT2 inhibitor and has been shown to be a promising new treatment option for patients and prescribers who were unsatisfied with the blood sugar controls. It has been proven to be efficacious as a monotherapy, metformin combined modality therapy and metformin and gemigliptin or other DDP4 (Inhibitors of dipeptidyl peptidase 4) combined modality therapy. During the development of the product, Envlo™ was designated as South Korea's first drug to received a fast-track review in 2020, and is expected to be launched in South Korea by Daewoong in the first half of 2023.

The Enavogliflozin monotherapy trial was a placebo-controlled superiority study. The HbA1c decreased in the Enavogliflozin group by approximately 1% over the placebo group, which was statistically significant. In addition, significant improvements were confirmed in weight, blood pressure, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) compared to the placebo group.

The two combination trials, Enavogliflozin-Metformin and Enavogliflozin-Metformin-Gemigliptin combination, demonstrated non-inferiority in HbAc1 change compared to dapagliflozin 10 mg and its equivalent combinations. Through this agreement, Daewoong Pharmaceuticals has the plan to accelerate further overseas expansion for Enavogliflozin including China, Saudi Arabia and Russia and expand into 15 countries by 2025 and 50 countries by 2030. M8 Pharmaceuticals continues its commitment of bringing proven and innovative products to Latin American patients, and the agreement reinforces its commitment and capabilities in the area of cardiometabolism.

Diabetes affects over 30 million people in Brazil and Mexico, and many of these patients continue to need better therapeutic options to optimize symptom control and improve their quality of live. According to IQVIA, the SGLT2 inhibitor market in Brazil and Mexico exceeds the 470 million USD in value and grows at a rate of more than 20% annually.