Roche licenses obesity candidate from Zealand Pharma

Shares of Danish biotech Zealand Pharma (Nasdaq: ZEAL) were up 30% at 635.50 kroner by early afternoon, on news of a potentially lucrative licensing deal with Swiss pharm giant Roche (ROG: SIX).

Under the terms of this agreement, the two companies will collaborate to co-develop and co-commercialize petrelintide, Zealand Pharma’s amylin analog as a standalone therapy as well as a fixed-dose combination with Roche’s lead incretin asset CT-388.

In recent years, scientific advances in the field of incretins and an increased understanding of the disease biology have significantly changed the possibilities to treat obesity and its numerous associated health conditions (comorbidities). With these advances, a large opportunity remains to provide new treatments that offer improved efficacy, safety, quality, and durability of weight loss.