Diet pill competitor Zealand Pharma shares rise 17% on trial results | Wilnesh News

LONDON – Shares in Denmark’s Zealand Pharma surged on Friday, hitting a record high after positive results from an early-stage study of its weight-loss drug challenger.

It rose more than 23% in early trading, but by 2pm London time, gains had fallen to around 17%.

A 16-week course of high-dose, long-acting amylin analog petrelintide led to an average weight loss of up to 8.6 percent in the study, the company said Thursday. The placebo drug resulted in a 1.7% weight loss.

One out of 48 study participants dropped out due to negative consequences.

Zealand Pharma said in a press release that petrelintide “was found to be safe and well tolerated at all dose levels,” leading to its use as an alternative to GLP-1 receptor agonist-based weight management therapies. Potential provides “strong support.”

GLP-1RA-based treatments include Ozempic, a diabetes drug produced by a Danish pharmaceutical company Novo NordiskIt is rapidly gaining popularity around the world for its weight loss benefits. Soaring demand for Ozempic and obesity drug Wegovy has propelled Novo Nordisk into Europe’s most valuable company.

Competition to produce drugs for competing therapies has intensified over the past few years, attracting dozens of challengers to market leader Novo Nordisk and Novo Nordisk. Eli Lilly and Company In the U.S.

Zealand Pharma chief medical officer David Kendall said the petrelintide study supports the company’s belief that the drug “is well tolerated and has the potential to serve as an alternative to incretin-based therapies in the treatment of overweight and obesity.” Play an important role.

It could “achieve weight loss comparable to GLP-1 receptor agonists and provide a better patient experience,” Kendall added.

The company now plans to test petrelintide in a mid-stage Phase 2 clinical trial.

Jefferies analysts said in a note on Thursday that preliminary results showed the drug “checked all the boxes.” They support a “possible role for amylin as a more tolerable alternative to GLP-1” with “at least equal” weight loss potential.

Zealand Pharma is working with Germany’s Boehringer Ingelheim to independently test potential weight loss drug survodutide. Positive Phase 2 trial results for the drug in February boosted Zealandia’s share price at the time.