Danish biotech Zealand Pharma is focusing on the “next generation” of weight reduction medication as rivals pile right into a market dominated by heavyweights Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.
CEO Adam Steensberg informed CNBC Thursday that early-stage trials of its experimental weight problems injection level to higher-quality weight reduction — with decreased muscle loss and fewer uncomfortable side effects — versus conventional GLP-1 remedies. The corporate is now scouting for a worldwide pharma agency to companion with, he added.
“Our focus is really what’s needed in the 2030s, and it’s really about establishing, you can say, the next-generation molecules that are not based on GLP-1s,” Steensberg stated.
Final month, Zealand Pharma introduced optimistic top-line outcomes from a part 1b trial of its weight-loss drug, a GLP-1/GLP-2 receptor twin agonist referred to as Dapiglutide. It places the corporate head-to-head with main weight problems gamers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, whose GLP-1s Wegovy and Zepbound, respectively, have exploded in reputation for his or her weight reduction results.
Nonetheless, Steensberg stated it is the corporate’s separate weight problems drug candidate, Petrelintide, a long-acting amylin analog, which may set it aside from the competitors, providing another for customers who can’t tolerate GLP-1s.
“That’s what we call our crown jewel. This is the one where we have the highest expectations,” Steensberg stated.
“We have a very strong feeling that this could become a foundational therapy in the future – something that provides the weight loss that patients are looking for but with the potential for a better tolerability profile,” he added.
Zealand Pharma.
Amylin analogs are a nascent type of weight reduction remedy. They work by mimicking a hormone that’s co-secreted with insulin within the pancreas to extend satiety. This differs from GLP-1 agonists, which mimic incretin hormones produced within the intestine to suppress urge for food and regulate blood sugar.
“It’s two very different human experiences,” Steensberg stated, evaluating GLP-1s with amylin analogs. “If you work on satiety, it will be a more pleasant experience. So once you get into it, you can stay long-term [on the] treatment.”
Novo Nordisk can also be experimenting with its personal model of the remedy, combining the GLP-1 element Semaglutide with amylin analog Cagrilintide in a candidate referred to as CagriSema.
In June, Zealand Pharma additionally introduced optimistic outcomes from a part 1b trial of Petrelintide, which confirmed {that a} course of 16 weekly injections decreased physique weight by as much as 8.6% on common.
The corporate stated on the time that the findings confirmed “robust support” for the drug’s potential as an alternative choice to GLP-1s. Following the biotech agency’s first-half leads to August, Steensberg upped the ante, saying amylin analogs have the potential to turn into “the future backbone therapy for weight management.”
“If we can develop a molecule that is giving patients the weight loss they’re looking for with a very benign tolerability profile, and we can also show risk reduction when it comes to cardiovascular health, I think we have all the reasons to believe it could become a first-line therapy,” Steensberg informed CNBC within the interview Thursday.
Searching for a worldwide pharma companion
Zealand Pharma, which was based nearly three many years in the past with a deal with peptide-based medicines, has ridden a rising tide over current months because it has ventured additional into weight problems remedies. To date this yr, its share value is up greater than 110%.
Competitors within the sector is fierce, nonetheless, with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly nonetheless dominating the market as their so-called miracle medication turn into important to customers throughout the globe.
A number of drug regulators, together with in the U.S. and European Union, have now expanded GLP-1 drug labels to be used in treating obesity-related comorbidities and different sicknesses. It comes as considerations stay across the medication’ different attainable uncomfortable side effects, equivalent to muscle loss and suicidal ideas, and U.S. authorities have pushed again in opposition to the excessive prices of the remedies.
However, urge for food for the remedies continues to balloon, with analysts estimating that the sector might be price as much as $200 billion by 2030.
Emily Area, head of European prescribed drugs analysis at Barclays, stated the burden loss market was prone to develop extra “fragmented” over time as pharmaceutical corporations goal completely different segments, noting that remedies to counter muscle loss might be a great way to “differentiate.”
Nonetheless, she famous that an organization of Zealand Pharma’s measurement and scope would battle to take action alone.
“It’s not something Zealand could even think about, manufacturing themselves. A lot of people who have owned it still own it, but are wondering if it’s going to get bought or not,” Area stated over the telephone.
Steensberg on Thursday dominated out rising hypothesis round a takeover, saying it is “definitely not part of our plans.” However he famous that even with a big $1 billion capital elevate earlier this yr, the corporate would wish a companion.
“We have a clear ambition to continue into the next phase of our life as a partnering company,” Steensberg stated. “We have to have a lot to offer and I think it’s a very attractive opportunity to partner with Zealand right now for a large pharma company.”
He added that partnership discussions are underway and prone to proceed into the primary half of subsequent yr.
Petrelintide and Dapiglutide will now progress to part 2 trials on obese and overweight sufferers in late 2024 and the primary half of 2025, respectively.
