Zealand and Roche sign $5.3bn deal for obesity treatment
Zealand Pharma has officially partnered with Roche to develop and commercialise its lead obesity treatment candidate, petrelintide, marking a major milestone in the company’s obesity drug pipeline.
The agreement, valued at up to $5.3bn, includes an upfront payment of $1.65bn to Zealand, with additional milestone payments contingent on Phase III trial success and commercial performance. The deal comes after a seven-month search for a development partner, with Zealand first announcing its intentions in August 2024.
Under the collaboration, Zealand and Roche will jointly develop and market petrelintide, an amylin analogue, both as a monotherapy and in combination therapies. The first planned combination will pair petrelintide with Roche’s glucagon-like peptide 1/gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GLP-1/GIP) agonist candidate, CT-388.
CT-388, acquired by Roche through its $2.7bn purchase of Carmot Therapeutics, has already shown promising results in early trials. In a Phase Ib study, participants achieved a mean placebo-adjusted weight loss of 18.8% over 24 weeks. The drug is currently undergoing Phase IIb trials for individuals with and without type 2 diabetes.
Zealand will contribute $350m to fund the study of the CT-388/petrelintide combination. The companies will share profits and losses on a 50/50 basis in the US and Europe, while Zealand will earn tiered royalties on global net sales.
The deal positions Zealand as a key player in the competitive obesity treatment market, currently dominated by GLP-1 receptor agonists such as Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic) and Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound). Petrelintide, now in Phase II clinical trials, offers a unique mechanism of action by mimicking the hormone amylin.
Unlike GLP-1 receptor agonists, which primarily affect insulin and glucagon levels, amylin analogues like petrelintide suppress glucagon secretion, slow gastric emptying, and enhance sensitivity to the satiety hormone leptin. Zealand believes this distinct approach could make petrelintide a best-in-class therapy for obesity and diabetes.
“We strongly believe that petrelintide holds potential as a foundational therapy for weight management,” said Zealand CEO Adam Steensberg in the 12 March announcement.
Investor confidence in Zealand’s obesity pipeline has remained strong. The company raised $1bn through a share offering in June 2024, exceeding its $900m target, and secured an additional $204m in funding through a private placement in January 2024.
Zealand’s other major obesity candidate, survodutide, a glucagon/GLP-1 receptor dual agonist developed in partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim, is already in Phase III trials for obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).
With global obesity rates on the rise, the obesity drug market is projected to reach $37.1bn across the seven major markets (US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Japan) by 2031, according to a GlobalData report.