Zealand Pharma Announces Financial Results for the Full Year 2024
Company announcement – No. 2 / 2025
Zealand Pharma Announces Financial Results for the Full Year 2024
A transformational year with significant clinical advancement across differentiated obesity pipeline, while building the foundation for accelerated growth in the years to come
- Positive results with long-acting amylin analog petrelintide in 16-week Phase 1b trial and advancement into large, comprehensive Phase 2b trial in people with overweight or obesity
- Positive topline results with GLP-1/GLP-2 receptor dual agonist dapiglutide in 13-week Phase 1b trial and expansion of trial to investigate higher doses over a longer treatment period
- Positive results with glucagon/GLP-1 receptor dual agonist survodutide in Boehringer Ingelheim Phase 2 trial in MASH and advancement into largest Phase 3 MASH program with an incretin-based therapy
- DKK 8.5 billion (USD 1.2 billion) secured through two equity raises enabling significant investments in R&D pipeline and organizational capabilities
Copenhagen, Denmark, February 20, 2025 - Zealand Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ZEAL) (CVR-no. 20045078), a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of innovative peptide-based medicines, today announced financial results for the year ended December 31, 2024 and provided a corporate update.
Driving innovation in obesity with differentiated mid- to late-stage pipeline
"2024 was a transformational year for Zealand Pharma with positive data across our mid- to late-stage obesity pipeline and significant capital raised to further invest in our pipeline and the organization, preparing the company for the next phase of growth," said Adam Steensberg, President and Chief Executive Officer at Zealand Pharma. "From this very solid foundation, both financially and organizationally, we expect accelerated momentum in 2025 with important clinical advancement of our obesity programs."
Key financial results for FY 2024
| DKK million | FY 2024 | FY 2023 |
| Revenue | 62.7 | 342.8 |
| Net operating expenses1 | -1,327.0 | -895.9 |
| Net operating result | -1,272.2 | -572.2 |
| Net financial items | 188.8 | -136.6 |
| Cash position2 | 9,022.0 | 1,633.1 |
Notes:
1. Net operating expenses consist of R&D, S&M, G&A and other operating items.
2. Cash position includes cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.
Financial guidance for 2025
The strong cash position enables Zealand Pharma to significantly accelerate its investments in the company's wholly-owned obesity programs, which in 2025 will include three large Phase 2b trials. Net operating expenses expected in 2025 are mostly driven by research and development. Development costs primarily relate to the clinical advancement of the wholly-owned obesity programs, including Phase 2b trials, CMC activities related to API and Drug Product, as well as Phase 3 preparations. Research costs are mainly driven by enhanced investments in next-generation peptide therapeutics focused on obesity and inflammation.
| DKK million | 2025 Guidance | 2024 Actual |
| Revenue anticipated from existing and new license and partnership agreements | No guidance | 62.7 |
| Net operating expenses3 | 2,000 – 2,500 | 1,327.0 |
Notes:
3. Financial guidance based on foreign exchange rates as of February 19, 2025.
Highlights of the year and key events anticipated in 2025
Obesity – advancing the differentiated pipeline
- Petrelintide, a long-acting amylin analog. Zealand Pharma reported positive results from the 16-week Phase 1b trial with petrelintide and presented the data at the Obesity Society Annual Meeting (ObesityWeek). In December 2024, the company subsequently initiated ZUPREME-1, a large, comprehensive Phase 2b trial in people with overweight or obesity and anticipates completion of participant enrolment in the first half of 2025. The company also expects to expand the development program of petrelintide by initiating ZUPREME-2, a Phase 2b trial in people with overweight or obesity and type 2 diabetes in the first half of 2025.
- Dapiglutide, a first-in-class GLP-1/GLP-2 receptor dual agonist. Zealand Pharma reported positive topline results from the 13-week Phase 1b trial with dapiglutide, providing support for advancing this candidate into a large Phase 2b trial in people with overweight or obesity, which is planned for initiation in the first half of 2025. The company also expanded the Phase 1b trial to evaluate higher doses of dapiglutide over a longer treatment period, with topline results from this part of the trial expected in the first half of 2025.
- Survodutide, a glucagon/GLP-1 receptor dual agonist. Boehringer Ingelheim reported positive results from the Phase 2 trial with survodutide in MASH, presented the data at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), and received a Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the U.S. FDA. Boehringer Ingelheim subsequently initiated two large registrational Phase 3 trials with survodutide in people with MASH; LIVERAGE™ in people with moderate or advanced liver fibrosis (stages 2 or 3) and LIVERAGE™-Cirrhosis in people with compensated cirrhosis (fibrosis stage 4). In 2024, Boehringer Ingelheim also completed participant enrolment for SYNCHRONIZE™-1 and SYNCHRONIZE™-2, the Phase 3 clinical trials of survodutide in people with overweight or obesity without and with type 2 diabetes, respectively.
Rare diseases – long-term commitment to patients with CHI and SBS
- Dasiglucagon in congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI). Zealand Pharma is prepared to resubmit the New Drug Application (NDA) for three weeks of dosing to the U.S. FDA contingent on the third-party manufacturing facility receiving an inspection classification upgrade. Subsequently, Zealand Pharma also expects to submit the required and detailed analyses from existing continuous glucose monitoring datasets to support the use of dasiglucagon beyond three weeks.
- Glepaglutide in short bowel syndrome (SBS). In December 2024, Zealand Pharma received a Complete Response Letter (CRL) for the NDA for glepaglutide, a long-acting GLP-2 analog under development for the treatment of adults with SBS with intestinal failure. In 2025, the company expects to initiate a single placebo-controlled Phase 3 trial (EASE-5) to provide further confirmatory evidence for a regulatory submission in the U.S. and to support regulatory submissions for glepaglutide in geographies outside the U.S. and the EU. In parallel, Zealand Pharma anticipates proceeding with current plans to submit a Marketing Authorization Application to support EU approval.
Chronic inflammation – progressing the pipeline
- ZP9830, Kv1.3 ion channel blocker. Zealand Pharma initiated the first-in-human clinical trial with ZP9830, a Kv.1.3 ion channel blocker in late 2024 and anticipates completing this trial in 2025. The company believes this candidate holds potential to treat a broad range of cell-mediated autoimmune diseases.
Sustainability – building a sustainable organization
- In 2024, Zealand Pharma launched a refined sustainability strategy and developed a Climate Change Transition Plan, outlining activities and targets for climate change mitigation. The company will further accelerate its sustainability efforts in 2025, with key focus areas including the expected submission of the Climate Change Transition Plan to the Science Based Targets Initiative and continued preparations for the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.
- Zealand Pharma achieved notable organizational growth in 2024 with a 30% increase in the number of employees compared to 2023. Yet, the company maintained its high employee engagement score of 8.8/10 and decreased the employee turnover rate from 10.3% in 2023 to 7.3% in 2024.
Conference call today at 2 PM CET / 8 AM ET
Zealand Pharma's management will host a conference call today February 20 at 2:00 PM CET / 8:00 AM ET to present results for the full year 2024 followed by a Q&A session. Participating in the call will be Chief Executive Officer, Adam Steensberg; Chief Financial Officer, Henriette Wennicke; Chief Medical Officer, David Kendall; and Chief Commercial Officer, Eric Cox. The conference call will be conducted in English.
The live listen-only audio webcast of the call and accompanying slide presentation will be accessible at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/96nk8pep. To receive telephone dial-in information and a unique personal access PIN, please register at https://register.vevent.com/register/BI735075144114493ead489441f1d0740f.
Participants are advised to register for the call or webcast approximately 10 minutes before the start. A recording of the event will be available following the call on the Investor section of Zealand Pharma's website at https://www.zealandpharma.com/investors/events-presentations/.
About Zealand Pharma
Zealand Pharma A/S (NASDAQ:ZEAL) is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of peptide-based medicines. More than 10 drug candidates invented by Zealand Pharma have advanced into clinical development, of which two have reached the market and three candidates are in late-stage development. The company has development partnerships with a number of pharma companies as well as commercial partnerships for its marketed products.
Zealand Pharma was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with a presence in the U.S. For more information about Zealand Pharma's business and activities, please visit www.zealandpharma.com.
Forward looking statements
This company announcement contains "forward-looking statements", as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 in the United States, as amended, even though no longer listed in the United States this is used as a definition to provide Zealand Pharma's expectations or forecasts of future events regarding the research, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products, the timing of the company's clinical trials and the reporting of data therefrom. These forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "aim," "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "goal," "intend," "may," "plan," "possible," "potential," "will," "would", and other words and terms of similar meaning. You should not place undue reliance on these statements, or the scientific data presented. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and inaccurate assumptions, which may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations set forth herein and may cause any or all of such forward-looking statements to be incorrect, and which include, but are not limited to, unexpected costs or delays in clinical trials and other development activities due to adverse safety events or otherwise; unexpected concerns that may arise from additional data, analysis or results obtained during clinical trials; our ability to successfully market both new and existing products; changes in reimbursement rules and governmental laws and related interpretation thereof; government-mandated or market-driven price decreases for our products; introduction of competing products; production problems; unexpected growth in costs and expenses; our ability to effect the strategic reorganization of our businesses in the manner planned; failure to protect and enforce our data, intellectual property and other proprietary rights and uncertainties relating to intellectual property claims and challenges; regulatory authorities may require additional information or further studies, or may reject, fail to approve or may delay approval of our drug candidates or expansion of product labelling; failure to obtain regulatory approvals in other jurisdictions; exposure to product liability and other claims; interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; unexpected contract breaches or terminations; inflationary pressures on the global economy; and political uncertainty, including due to the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine. If any or all of such forward-looking statements prove to be incorrect, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied by such statements. The foregoing sets forth many, but not all, of the factors that could cause actual results to differ from our expectations in any forward-looking statement. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release/company announcement and are based on information available to Zealand Pharma as of the date of this release/announcement. We do not undertake to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof. Information concerning pharmaceuticals (including compounds under development) contained within this material is not intended as advertising or medical advice.
Contacts
Anna Krassowska, PhD (Investors and Media)
Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Zealand Pharma
Email: [email protected]
Adam Lange (Investors)
Investor Relations Officer
Zealand Pharma
Email: [email protected]
Neshat Anis Ahmadi (Investors)
Investor Relations Manager
Zealand Pharma
Email: [email protected]
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