Zealand releases promising early data on amylin-based obesity candidate

Aiming to eventually claim revenues in the fast-growing obesity treatment market, Danish biotech Zealand Pharma (Nasdaq: ZEAL) released early data on its petrelintide, which sent the firm’s shares up 20% to 775 kroner in early trading on Friday.

Zealand announced positive top-line clinical results from Part 2 of a Phase Ib multiple ascending dose (MAD) trial, investigating safety, tolerability, and clinical effects of 16 weeks of dosing with petrelintide, a long-acting amylin analogue in development for weight management1.

“The data reported from this 16-week trial are both exciting and compelling, demonstrating significant and clinically meaningful reductions in body weight with a very favorable tolerability profile. These results support our conviction that petrelintide is very well tolerated and can potentially play an important role as an alternative to incretin-based therapies for the management of overweight and obesity,” said Dr David Kendall, chief medical officer of Zealand Pharma.