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Zealand Pharma’s search for a partner for its amylin-based obesity therapy petrelintide remains ongoing, with no agreement announced in its 2024 earnings report.
The company has yet to secure a deal, after announcing plans to sign one with a big pharma company in August 2024. Nonetheless, CEO Adam Steensberg emphasised that Zealand is “exactly where it wants to be in the process”, on a 20 February earnings call to investors.
Steensberg went on to state that the company is focused on finding a partner with a long-term strategic vision for petrelintide’s potential role in weight management. It also aims for a co-development and co-commercialisation partnership with profit-sharing rather than a standard licensing agreement.
The delay in securing a partner comes at a time when the landscape for amylin-based therapies is mixed. Novo Nordisk’s amylin/glucagon like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) combination, CagriSema (semaglutide/cagrilintide), failed to impress investors in the Phase III REDEFINE 1 trial (NCT05669755). Participants on CagriSema lost about 23% of their body weight, compared with 12% for those taking cagrilintide by itself, 16% for those on semaglutide, and 2.3% for people on a placebo. The trial met its primary endpoint but missed the mark of the 25% weight loss, which was Novo’s aim. .
Petrelintide is currently being investigated in the Phase II ZUPREME clinical trial (NCT06662539), which targets a 15% to 20% weight loss. Despite CagriSema’s results, Zealand’s chief medical officer David Kendall said that he has “great confidence” that petrelintide will meet this 15% to 20% target.
While GLP-1RAs like semaglutide work by stimulating insulin secretion, reducing glucagon levels, and slowing gastric emptying, amylin analogues such as petrelintide act through a different mechanism. By mimicking the hormone amylin, they suppress glucagon secretion, slow gastric emptying, and increase satiety. Zealand believes this distinct mode of action could position petrelintide as a best-in-class therapy in obesity and diabetes.
Zealand’s confidence in petrelintide is supported by broader investor interest in new and innovative obesity therapeutics. In June 2024, the company raised $1bn through a share offering, surpassing its original target of $900m. Earlier in January 2024, Zealand secured an additional DKr1.45bn ($204m) in funding for its obesity pipeline through a private placement and directed share issue to US investment firms. The company’s lead obesity asset, survodutide, a glucagon/GLP-1 receptor dual agonist partnered with Boehringer Ingelheim, has already advanced into Phase III trials for obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).