Zealand Pharma unveils 2030 plan as weight loss competition heats up
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Zealand Pharma on Thursday outlined an ambitious five-year strategy for its anti-obesity portfolio Thursday, spotlighting how growing competition from smaller players is tightening the race for market leaders Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly as more of these medicines near market entry.
The new strategy, “Metabolic Frontier 2030,” comes as Zealand shares have dropped 29% year to date as investors are betting the market will fragment, with fewer singular winners than they were 18 months ago at the peak of the weight loss drug frenzy.
Ahead of its Capital Markets Day on Thursday, the Danish drugmaker said it now targets five drug launches, at least 10 clinical pipeline programs and industry-leading cycle times by 2030.
The strategy will combine strategic partnerships, accelerated drug development, and expanded research capabilities to build the world’s most valuable metabolic health pipeline, Zealand Pharma said in a statement.
One of Zealand’s most promising drugs under development is petrelintide which targets the pancreatic amylin hormone — different from the GLP-1 gut hormone targeted by Novo’s Wegovy and Lilly’s Zepbound. The drug, developed in partnership with Roche, has shown more moderate side effects than current injectables in early-stage clinical trials.
Mid-stage data on petrelintide are due early next year, while data on its dual GLP-1 agonist called survodutide will read out throughout 2026.
Fewer standout winners
Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly currently dominate the market for weight loss drugs and have a head-start on their competition, having developed the only Food and Drug Administration approved anti-obesity drugs to date. But as the the market takes shape, more players are wanting in on the lucrative business which analysts predict could be worth as much as $150 billion annually by the start of next decade.
While Novo Nordisk shares are having their worst year ever in 2025, down 50% year to date, Eli Lilly has become an investor-favorite as the Indiana-based company’s Zepbound and Mounjaro has shown more pronounced weight loss than Novo’s Ozempic and Wegovy. Lilly has also taken the lead on U.S. new prescriptions.
On Thursday, Lilly released the first late-stage data on its next generation weight loss drug retatrutide. It works differently from existing injections and appears to be more effective as it targets three different appetite-regulating hormones, as opposed to one or two like Wegovy and Zepbound.
Lilly’s stock has held up better as investor see its pipeline as more likely to translate to financial returns, and the company also has a diverse porfolio that goes beyond diabetes and weight loss treatments.
Meanwhile, Zealand shares, like Novo’s peaked in mid-2024 but gains moderated as bets are also placed elsewhere. Only last month, it paused development of an GLP-1/GLP-2 dual agonist called dapiglutide, citing a crowded market for obesity drugs. Instead, Zealand indicated that it would focus…
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