M8 Pharmaceuticals, a US-based specialty biopharmaceutical company, announced on Tuesday that it has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with South Korea-based Daewoong Pharmaceuticals.

Under the contract, M8 Pharmaceuticals will have the rights to register and commercialise Envlo (Enavogliflozin) for Brazil and Mexico.

Envlo (Enavogliflozin), a SGLT2 (sodium glucose cotransporter 2) inhibitor type diabetes treatment, has received a regulatory approval in South Korea. Phase three clinical trials have been conducted on type two diabetes subjects and the company said that its outcome revealed excellent impact in decreasing blood sugar level. During the development of the product, Envlo was designated as South Korea's first drug to receive a fast-track review in 2020, and is expected to be launched in South Korea by Daewoong in the first half of 2023.

Joel Barlan, M8's CEO, said, 'We are delighted to continue to strengthen our strategic partnership with Daewoong and see a large opportunity to address the unmet needs of millions of Latin Americans suffering from diabetes, by bringing a product like Envlo to the SGLT2 market with the potential to be best-in-class.'

Daewoong Pharmaceutical CEO, Seng-ho Jeon, said 'This contract with M8 is an example proving that Daewoong Pharmaceutical's synthetic new drugs such as Fexuclue and Envlo, are recognised as global blockbusters. With this contract in Central and South America as the starting point, we expect that the 36th domestically produced new drug Envlo will expand its entry into the global market in the future.'