Company announcement
No. 11 / 2025
6
Obesity
Petrelintide (amylin analog)
First quarter 2025 update:
• Entered a collaboration and license agreement with
Roche to co-develop and co-commercialize petrelintide.
• Completed enrollment in the large, global Phase 2
ZUPREME-1 trial, three months after initiation.
Background:
Petrelintide (formerly ZP8396) is a long-acting amylin analog
that reduces food intake by restoring leptin sensitivity and
increasing satiety, in contrast to GLP-1RAs that reduce food
intake by suppressing appetite. The molecule is designed to
improve solubility, minimize fibrillation, and allow for co-
formulation with other peptides, including GLP-1RA-based
molecules. Petrelintide holds potential as a next-generation,
best-in-class alternative to GLP-1RA-based therapies and a
future foundational therapy for the treatment of overweight
and obesity, targeting weight loss comparable with GLP-
1RA-based therapies but with significantly improved
gastrointestinal tolerability.
In March 2025, Zealand Pharma announced a collaboration
and license agreement with Roche to co-develop and co-
commercialize petrelintide as a future foundational therapy
for weight management and rapidly expand into related
indications.
Zealand Pharma conducted a Phase 1b, randomized,
multiple ascending dose (MAD) clinical trial of petrelintide in
normal weight and overweight healthy participants
(ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05613387). The MAD trial
consisted of Part 1 and Part 2. Part 1 included 20
participants (eligible BMI 21.0–29.9) receiving six once-
weekly subcutaneous doses of petrelintide or placebo. Part
2 included 48 participants (eligible BMI 27.0–39.9) receiving
16 once-weekly doses of petrelintide or placebo using a
dose up-titration scheme.
Part 1 results were presented at the Obesity Society Annual
Meeting (ObesityWeek) in October 2023. Low doses of 0.6
mg and 1.2 mg petrelintide administered once weekly for six
weeks led to 5.3% and 5.1% mean weight loss from baseline
in enrolled participants (mean body weight of 82 kg and BMI
of 25.4). In the 6-week trial, petrelintide was judged to be
well tolerated, with no serious or severe adverse events and
no withdrawals. The most common adverse events were
related to the gastrointestinal system, such as nausea. All
gastrointestinal side effects were mild, and most occurred
within two days of the first dose. Based on the mild adverse
event profile, Zealand Pharma initiated Part 2 of the MAD
trial, exploring higher doses of petrelintide over 16 weeks
using a dose up-titration scheme, with topline results
reported in June 2024.
In Part 2 of the MAD trial, 48 participants were randomized
(3:1) to receive 16 once-weekly doses of petrelintide or
placebo within three dose cohorts using a dose escalation
scheme. Participants randomized to petrelintide received
the three different maintenance doses of 2.4 mg, 4.8 mg and
9.0 mg for twelve, eight and six weeks, respectively. After 16
weeks, mean body weight reductions were 4.8%, 8.6% and
8.3% for the three petrelintide-treated groups, respectively,
versus 1.7% for the pooled placebo group. 79% of the 48 trial
participants were male and mean BMI at baseline was 29.9
kg/m
2
. Petrelintide was well tolerated, with no serious or
severe adverse events. All gastrointestinal adverse events
were mild, except for two moderate events (nausea and
vomiting) reported by one participant who discontinued
treatment. No other participants discontinued treatment due
to AEs. No other events of vomiting occurred, and two
events of diarrhea were reported, both of which were mild.
Results from Part 2 of the MAD trial were presented at the
Obesity Society Annual Meeting (ObesityWeek) in San
Antonio, Texas on November 5, 2024.
The Phase 1a, first-in-human, randomized, single ascending
dose (SAD) trial to assess the safety, tolerability,
pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of petrelintide in
healthy volunteers (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05096598).
Healthy participants with a mean BMI of 25.8 were
randomized (6:2) within seven dose cohorts and treated with
either subcutaneous petrelintide or placebo. After one
week, participants treated with petrelintide had reductions
in mean body weight of 2.6%, 3.6% and 4.2% from baseline
following single doses of 0.7, 1.4 and 2.4 mg petrelintide.
Body weight reductions were well-sustained during the
additional five weeks of observation without further doses
of petrelintide. Placebo-treated participants had a mean
body weight increase of 0.6% after one week that continued
to increase in most participants during the follow-up period.
The plasma half-life of petrelintide was 230 hours, or
approximately 10 days, which supports once-weekly dose
administration. Petrelintide was well tolerated in this trial,
with no serious or severe adverse events and no
withdrawals. The detailed results were presented at the ADA
83
rd
Scientific Sessions in June 2023.
Dapiglutide (long-acting GLP-1R/GLP-2R dual agonist)
Background:
Dapiglutide is a long-acting, dual GLP-1R/GLP-2R agonist for
the potential treatment of obesity. This is a potential first-in-
class peptide designed to leverage the weight loss effects of