Zealand Pharma Shares Surge 17% on Positive Drug Trial

Shares of Zealand Pharma soared by over 17% on Friday following the announcement of positive trial results for petrelintide, a potential competitor to Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro. The Danish biotech firm revealed that a 16-week trial involving 48 participants who received weekly injections of petrelintide demonstrated an average weight loss of up to 8.6%, compared to a mere 1.7% decrease in those who received a placebo.

Petrelintide, a long-acting amylin analog, functions by mimicking the hormone amylin, which is produced alongside insulin in the pancreas in response to ingested nutrients. This action helps in blocking the sensation of hunger. While one participant withdrew from the trial due to experiencing nausea and vomiting after taking petrelintide, the company noted that overall, the drug was deemed safe and well-tolerated, with only two reports of mild diarrhea.

Zealand Pharma expressed confidence in petrelintide’s potential as an alternative to GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, stating that the trial results provided robust support for this claim. David Kendall, Zealand’s chief medical officer, suggested that petrelintide could offer weight loss comparable to GLP-1 drugs but with a potentially better patient experience, although specifics were not provided.

Looking ahead, Zealand intends to rapidly progress its clinical development of petrelintide, with a mid-stage clinical trial planned for the end of 2024. However, it is likely that the drug will not be released or receive regulatory approval for several years, as testing is still in its early stages. This timeline mirrors the path taken by Wegovy, which was approved for treating type 2 diabetes as Ozempic in 2017 but underwent over five years of testing before receiving approval for weight loss treatment in 2021.

The weight loss drug market is becoming increasingly competitive, with other pharmaceutical and biotech companies also entering the fray. Zealand is collaborating with German drug firm Boehringer Ingelheim to develop survodutide, an injectable drug that mimics the same GLP-1 hormone as Wegovy and Zepbound, showing positive results in mid-stage clinical trials for treating obesity and fatty liver disease. Viking Therapeutics reported that its experimental weight loss drug VK2735 outperformed Novo Nordisk’s and Eli Lilly’s drugs in trials. In contrast, Pfizer abandoned plans for two experimental weight loss pills last year due to strong side effects observed in a mid-stage trial.