Novo and Lilly contender Zealand Pharma targets ‘next generation’ of

Danish biotech Zealand Pharma is targeting the “next generation” of weight loss drugs as competitors pile into a market dominated by heavyweights Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.

CEO Adam Steensberg told CNBC Thursday that early-stage trials of its experimental obesity injection point to higher-quality weight loss — with reduced muscle loss and fewer side effects — versus traditional GLP-1 treatments. The company is now scouting for a global pharma firm to partner 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 said.

Last month, Zealand Pharma announced positive top-line results from a phase 1b trial of its weight loss drug, a GLP-1/GLP-2 receptor dual agonist called Dapiglutide. It puts the company head-to-head with major obesity players Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, whose GLP-1s Wegovy and Zepbound, respectively, have exploded in popularity for their weight loss effects.

However, Steensberg said it’s the company’s separate obesity drug candidate, Petrelintide, a long-acting amylin analog, which could set it apart from the competition, offering an alternative for users who cannot tolerate GLP-1s.

“That’s what we call our crown jewel. This is the one where we have the highest expectations,” Steensberg said.

“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.

Amylin analogs are a nascent form of weight loss treatment. They work by mimicking a hormone that is co-secreted with insulin in the pancreas to increase satiety. This differs from GLP-1 agonists, which mimic incretin hormones produced in the gut to suppress appetite and regulate blood sugar.

“It’s two very different human experiences,” Steensberg said, comparing 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 is also experimenting with its own version of the treatment, combining the GLP-1 component Semaglutide with amylin analog Cagrilintide in a candidate called CagriSema.

In June, Zealand Pharma also announced positive results from a phase 1b trial of Petrelintide, which showed that a course of 16 weekly injections reduced body weight by up to 8.6% on average.

The company said at the time that the findings showed “robust support” for the drug’s potential as an alternative to GLP-1s. Following the biotech firm’s first-half results in August, Steensberg upped the ante, saying amylin analogs have the potential to become “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…