(Copenhagen:ZEAL),
Company announcement – No. 1 / 2026
Zealand Pharma Announces Financial Results for the Full Year 2025
2025 marked a quantum leap for Zealand Pharma, with a transformative partnership for petrelintide, strong clinical progress, and organizational readiness, setting the stage for catalyst-rich and defining 2026
- Entered a historic and transformative collaboration and license agreement with Roche to unlock the full potential of petrelintide as a future foundational therapy for weight management, aiming to establish the leading amylin-based franchise
- Positioned for the most catalyst-rich year in the company's history, including Phase 2 petrelintide data from the ZUPREME program and Phase 3 survodutide data from the SYNCHRONIZETM obesity program
- Outlined ambitious Metabolic Frontier 2030 strategy to become a generational biotech and leader in obesity and metabolic health, targeting five launches, more than 10 clinical pipeline programs, and industry-leading cycle times from idea to clinic by 2030
- Announced plans to establish a research site in Boston to expand the pharmacological reach of our platform and integrate more than 25 years of proven peptide expertise with company-wide AI-driven drug discovery and advanced automation to accelerate medicine creation
Copenhagen, Denmark, February 19, 2026 – Zealand Pharma A/S (Nasdaq: ZEAL) (CVR-no. 20045078), a biotechnology company transforming the future of metabolic health, today announced financial results for the year ended December 31, 2025, and provided a corporate update.
On the cusp of transforming into a generational biotech
Adam Steensberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of Zealand Pharma said:
“Building on the significant momentum in 2025, marked by our historic partnership with Roche for petrelintide and strong clinical progress across our leading programs, we are now entering a catalyst-rich and defining 2026. We look forward to reporting Phase 2 petrelintide data from ZUPREME-1 imminently, the expected initiation of Phase 3 development for petrelintide, and Phase 3 survodutide data from all key trials in the SYNCHRONIZETM obesity program, which may pave the way for regulatory submissions – important milestones in our ambition to become a key player in obesity.
As we execute our strategy to build a generational biotech and become a leader in obesity and metabolic health, we are excited to establish our new research site in Boston this year and pursue additional partnerships to further strengthen and expand our pipeline.”
Key financial results for FY 2025
| DKK million | FY 2025 | FY 2024 |
| Revenue | 9,215 | 63 |
| Net operating expenses, excl. OOI | -2,101 | -1,324 |
| Net operating expenses1 | -2,255 | -1,327 |
| Operating result | 6,959 | -1,272 |
| Net financial items | 42 | 189 |
| Cash position2 | 15,109 | 9,022 |
Notes:
1. Net operating expenses consist of R&D, S&M, G&A, and other operating items (OOI).
2. Cash position includes cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.
Financial guidance for 2026
Net operating expenses expected in 2026 are primarily driven by research and development activities. Development costs mainly relate to the clinical advancement of the petrelintide franchise under the collaboration with Roche, including the expected initiation of a Phase 3a program with petrelintide monotherapy and Phase 2 initiation with petrelintide/CT-388. Research costs are primarily driven by the acceleration and strengthening of research efforts in line with the Metabolic Frontier 2030 strategy.
| DKK million | 2026 Guidance3 | 2025 Actual |
| Net operating expenses, excl. OOI1 | 2,700 – 3,300 | 2,101 |
Notes:
3. Financial guidance based on foreign exchange rates as of February 18, 2026.
With respect to revenue in 2026, Zealand Pharma is eligible for potential milestones from Roche of USD 700 million. This includes a potential development milestone payment of USD 575 million, subject to the expected initiation of a Phase 3a program with petrelintide monotherapy in H2 2026, and an anniversary payment of USD 125 million in Q2 2026.
Highlights of 2025 and key events anticipated in 2026
Obesity – redefining the near-term future of weight management
- Petrelintide, amylin analog. Zealand Pharma entered a transformative and historic collaboration and license agreement with Roche to co-develop and co-commercialize petrelintide as a future foundational therapy for weight management. The partnership aims to redefine the standard of care for people with overweight and obesity by establishing the leading amylin-based franchise around petrelintide.
- Petrelintide, amylin analog. Zealand Pharma completed participant enrolment in the Phase 2 trials, ZUPREME-1 and ZUPREME-2, in people with overweight and obesity without and with type 2 diabetes, respectively. The company also completed the 28-week primary endpoint visit for the last participant in the Phase 2 ZUPREME-1 trial and expects to report 42-week topline data from the trial in the first quarter of 2026. Zealand Pharma and Roche plan to advance petrelintide monotherapy at full speed into a comprehensive Phase 3 program in the second half of 2026.
- Petrelintide/CT-388, amylin+GLP-1/GIP combination. Zealand Pharma and Roche expect to initiate Phase 2 with petrelintide/CT-388 in the first half of 2026.
- Survodutide, glucagon/GLP-1 receptor dual agonist. Boehringer Ingelheim completed participant enrolment for SYNCHRONIZETM-CVOT, marking full enrolment of all trials in the comprehensive Phase 3 program for survodutide in people with overweight and obesity. Boehringer Ingelheim also completed the 76-week primary endpoint visit for the last participant in the Phase 3 SYCNHRONIZETM-1 trial in people with overweight and obesity without type 2 diabetes, with topline data expected in the first half of 2026. Results from all key trials in the Phase 3 SYNCHRONIZETM program are expected to be reported and presented at scientific meetings throughout 2026, potentially paving the way for regulatory submissions.
Rare diseases – long-term commitment to patients with CHI and SBS
- Dasiglucagon in congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI). In the second half of 2026, Zealand Pharma expects to resubmit the New Drug Application (NDA) for three weeks of dosing to the U.S. FDA (Part 1 of the original NDA) and to submit the required and detailed analyses from existing continuous glucose monitoring datasets to support the use of dasiglucagon beyond three weeks (Part 2 of the original NDA).
- Glepaglutide in short bowel syndrome (SBS). Zealand Pharma has initiated a single placebo-controlled Phase 3 trial (EASE-5), which is actively recruiting and is anticipated to provide further confirmatory evidence for a regulatory submission in the U.S. The company also submitted a Marketing Authorization Application to support EU approval.
Chronic inflammation – pipeline-in-a-product potential
- ZP9830, Kv1.3 channel blocker. Yesterday, Zealand Pharma reported positive topline results from the single ascending dose (SAD) part of the combined SAD/multiple ascending dose (MAD) Phase 1a clinical trial with ZP9830, a Kv.1.3 channel blocker with potential to address a broad range of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. Single doses of ZP9830 were well tolerated with no serious or severe adverse events or dose-limiting safety findings observed at any dose level. ZP9830 demonstrated a pharmacokinetic profile in line with predictions based on preclinical data, and exploratory pharmacodynamic biomarkers showed robust, dose-dependent activity consistent with Kv1.3 target engagement. In the second half of 2026, the company expects to report topline data from the ongoing MAD part of the Phase 1a trial and expand the development program of ZP9830 with initiation of a Phase 1b/2a trial.
Research – strengthening our engine and expanding capabilities to fuel clinical pipeline
- At its Capital Markets Day in December 2025 (https://www.zealandpharma.com/investors/#CMD), Zealand Pharma outlined an ambitious research strategy aimed at building the world's most valuable metabolic health pipeline, capable of delivering sustainable long-term growth and enabling multiple waves of innovation in metabolic health.
- Zealand Pharma entered into a multi-program strategic collaboration and license agreement with OTR Therapeutics to develop novel therapeutics for metabolic diseases. This collaboration enables Zealand Pharma to expand its metabolic health pipeline into oral small-molecule therapeutics for targets where the company has deep biological expertise.
- Zealand Pharma announced plans to establish a cutting-edge research site in Boston in 2026. Combining more than 25 years of peptide expertise with advanced automation and AI-driven drug discovery, the company aims to accelerate discovery and development, while expanding capabilities for next-generation molecule creation.
- In January 2026, Zealand Pharma announced an agreement with the Danish Centre for AI Innovation (DCAI) to strengthen and accelerate drug discovery through access to Gefion, Denmark's flagship AI supercomputer.
- In 2026, Zealand Pharma expects to progress its GIP analog, ZP6590, into clinical development with a first-in-human clinical trial.
Sustainability – resilience through responsibility
- In 2025, Zealand Pharma committed to the Science Based Targets Initiative, taking decisive action to mitigate climate change, and joined the UN Global Compact, committing to uphold its ten principles concerning human rights, labor, the environment, and anti-corruption.
- Zealand Pharma achieved notable organizational growth in 2025, with a 41% increase in the number of employees compared to 2024. Despite this rapid expansion, the company improved its high employee engagement score from 8.8 out of 10 in 2024 to 8.9 in 2025 and maintained a low employee turnover of 7.8% in 2025.
Conference call today at 2 PM CET / 8 AM ET
Zealand Pharma's management will host a conference call today February 19 at 2:00 PM CET / 8:00 AM ET to present results for the full year 2025 followed by a Q&A session. Participating in the call will be Chief Executive Officer, Adam Steensberg; Chief Financial Officer, Henriette Wennicke; and Chief Medical Officer, David Kendall. 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/23mcfcxf. To receive telephone dial-in information and a unique personal access PIN, please register at https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BI21d42ba397554c7088d1911aa7cea23e.
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/.
Financial calendar for 2026
Q1 Earnings Release / Interim Report First Quarter 2026: May 7, 2026
H1 Earnings Release / Interim Report First Half 2026: August 13, 2026
Q3 Earnings Release / Interim Report Third Quarter 2026: November 12, 2026
About Zealand Pharma
Zealand Pharma A/S (Nasdaq: ZEAL) is a biotechnology company focused on advancing medicines for obesity and metabolic health. Combining more than 25 years of peptide R&D expertise with a proprietary data platform that leverages advanced dataâ€'driven and AI/ML approaches, Zealand Pharma aims to lead a new era in obesity and metabolic health.
To date, more than ten Zealand Pharmaâ€'invented drug candidates have entered clinical development, of which two products have reached the market and three candidates are in late-stage development. The Company has collaborations with global pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners for research, development, and commercialization.
Founded in 1998, Zealand Pharma is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with a U.S. presence in Boston, Massachusetts. Learn more at 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 and the company's significant events and potential catalysts in 2026 and financial guidance for 2026. 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. 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.
Zealand Pharma(R) is a registered trademark of Zealand Pharma A/S.
Contacts
Adam Lange (Investors)
Vice President, Investor Relations
Zealand Pharma
Email: alange@zealandpharma.com
Neshat Anis Ahmadi (Investors)
Investor Relations Manager
Zealand Pharma
Email: neahmadi@zealandpharma.com
Rachel James-Owens (Media)
Vice President, Corporate Communications & Media Relations
Zealand Pharma
Email: RJamesOwens@zealandpharma.com
Amber Fennell, Jessica Hodgson, Sean Leous (Media)
ICR Healthcare
ZealandPharma@icrhealthcare.com
+44 (0) 7739 658 783
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