Hanmi's Eppe discount to Mounjaro shrinks from 53% at the starting dose to 19% at maintenance

Eppe's first month costs about half of Mounjaro's price and 62% of Wegovy's. The industry sources who say Hanmi will launch Eppe later this month ^[22] also supply the price schedule: the first four weeks are two 2 mg doses at 24,200 won and two 4 mg doses at 40,700 won ^[1][4], which adds up to the estimated 129,800 won ^[2]. Mounjaro's lowest dose costs roughly 270,000 won wholesale for four weeks and Wegovy roughly 210,000 won ^[3]. Eppe is therefore 48% of the Mounjaro price and 62% of the Wegovy price ^[14][15]. Our calculation puts the Wegovy discount at 38%, against the 37% Seoul Economic Daily reports ^[15][21].

The ramp changes the picture. Weeks five to eight cost 228,800 won, weeks nine to twelve 277,200 won, and each four weeks at the 10 mg maintenance dose 299,200 won ^[5], so the first twelve weeks total 635,800 won ^[16]. Seoul Economic Daily puts the maintenance discount at 17% against Wegovy and 19% against Mounjaro ^[21]. Working back from the 19%, Mounjaro's maintenance price is near 369,000 won, so the gap is about 70,000 won per four weeks, half of the 140,200 won gap in the first month ^[24][25][17].

The price basis is soft. JoongAng Daily says the per-dose figures are wholesale prices, not what patients will ultimately pay ^[20]. Seoul Economic Daily (which spells the drug Efpe ^[11]) calls them a supply price per pen including value-added tax, then says 129,800 won is what patients pay in the first month ^[19]. "Eppe is a prescription drug that is not covered by national health insurance," a Hanmi Pharmaceutical representative said ^[7]. The representative added: "The amount patients pay may vary depending on medical consultations and prescribing conditions." ^[13]

The same representative framed the pricing as access: "In line with Eppe's goal of providing a new treatment option for obesity, we placed patient accessibility at the forefront when setting the price." ^[10] The sales target is more than 100 billion won a year ^[23]. A patient on maintenance for 13 four-week periods pays 3.89 million won at 299,200 won each ^[18], so the target needs about 25,700 such patients ^[26]. That count assumes the target is booked at these supply prices. The cheaper 12-week ramp would push it higher.

Clinics could absorb the wholesale gap before it reaches patients. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk could cut prices on their lowest doses. Or a cheap first month could win enough new patients that the narrower maintenance gap matters less. In our view, the evidence supports a discount that works as an entry price: 140,200 won a month below Mounjaro at the start and about 70,000 won by maintenance ^[17][25]. Seoul Economic Daily says the late entrant appears to be leading with price competitiveness ^[12], but pressure on the incumbents is an inference from list prices, and neither report documents a competitor response. Clinic-level prices that hold the full wholesale gap, or a Lilly or Novo cut, would change our view.