Company announcement -- No. 39 / 2026
Zealand Pharma Announces Financial Results for the First Half of 2026
A landmark first half defined by key milestones delivered for leading obesity assets, and a continued momentum building across all fronts of our Metabolic Frontier 2030 strategy.
-- Announced decision to advance petrelintide into Phase 3 trials in H2 2026
following positive Phase 2 results, demonstrating double-digit weight
loss with a tolerability profile largely comparable to placebo,
supporting its potential to redefine the weight management experience for
people living with obesity or overweight.
-- Boehringer Ingelheim presented positive results from the SYNCHRONIZETM-1
and SYNCHRONIZETM-MASLD Phase 3 trials with survodutide, supporting its
potential as a differentiated treatment option for people living with
obesity or overweight and metabolic dysfunction, with readouts of the
remaining key Phase 3 obesity trials expected later in the year.
-- Initiated a Phase 1b clinical trial with ZP9830, a novel Kv1.3 ion
channel blocker, in people with psoriasis, marking the first step towards
establishing proof-of-concept for ZP9830 with broad potential across
autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
-- Continued active balance sheet management through launch of a USD 200
million share buyback program and USD 100 million royalty monetization of
a non-core asset via agreement with Royalty Pharma for rusfertide.
Copenhagen, Denmark, August 13, 2026 -- Zealand Pharma A/S (Nasdaq: ZEAL) (CVR-no. 20045078), a biotechnology company transforming the future of metabolic health, today announced the interim report for the six months ended June 30, 2026, and provided a corporate update.
A first half of defining moments
"In 2026 to date, we have executed with pace and precision across our pipeline," Adam Steensberg, President and Chief Executive Officer at Zealand Pharma said. "We delivered on the key commitments we set out at the start of the year, while maintaining our sharp focus on the next wave of metabolic health innovation. What stands out this half is not just the depth and breadth of progress, but what it signals about where the field is heading. At ADA 2026, the consensus among key opinion leaders on unmet needs in chronic weight management was clear: tolerability, treatment persistence, and patient experience now define the conversation, and we believe amylin is emerging as the answer. The opportunity in front of us has never been clearer."
Key financial results for H1 2026
DKK million H1-26 H1-25
---------------------- ------ ------
Revenue 4,525 9,096
---------------------- ------ ------
Operating expenses,
excl. OOI(1) -1,204 -968
---------------------- ------ ------
Operating expenses(1) -1,204 -1,164
---------------------- ------ ------
Operating profit 3,321 7,931
---------------------- ------ ------
Net financial items 292 -157
---------------------- ------ ------
Profit for the period 3,524 7,238
---------------------- ------ ------
Jun-30, Dec-31,
DKK million 2026 2025
----------------- ------- -------
Cash position(2) 14,457 15,109
----------------- ------- -------
Notes:
1. 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.
Q2 2026 Highlights and Recent Developments
Obesity
-- Petrelintide, amylin analog. Presented Phase 2 ZUPREME-1 data at the
American Diabetes Association's 2026 Scientific Sessions. Petrelintide
demonstrated double-digit weight reduction and a tolerability profile
largely comparable to placebo in people living with overweight or obesity,
supporting its potential as a future first-choice therapy for chronic
weight management.
-- Petrelintide, amylin analog. Reached a key milestone with the
announcement of decision to advance petrelintide monotherapy into Phase 3
registrational trials, planned for initiation later in 2026.
-- Survodutide, glucagon/GLP-1 receptor dual agonist. Boehringer Ingelheim
presented results from the SYNCHRONIZETM-1 Phase 3 trial in people living
with overweight or obesity. The trial met its primary endpoints and
showed up to 16.6% weight loss with survodutide. The proportion of lean
mass loss reflected no more than 11.3% of change in total tissue mass at
the highest dose. The lean loss ratio reported in this company
announcement has been updated from 10.8% to 11.3% following a
recalculation of the dataset.
-- Survodutide, glucagon/GLP-1 receptor dual agonist. Boehringer Ingelheim
presented positive results from the SYNCHRONIZETM-MASLD Phase 3 trial in
people with overweight or obesity and MASLD with evidence of inflammation
and/or fibrosis. The trial met its primary endpoints and showed that 6
out of 10 survodutide-treated participants achieving liver fat
normalization.
-- Survodutide, glucagon/GLP-1 receptor dual agonist. Boehringer Ingelheim
announced expansion of the development program for survodutide with four
Phase 3(b) trials initiating in 2026 to address key unmet needs in people
living with obesity and real-world care.
-- ZP6590, GIP receptor agonist. Zealand Pharma initiated a first-in-human
clinical trial with ZP6590.
Chronic inflammation
-- ZP9830, Kv1.3 Ion Channel Blocker. Zealand Pharma initiated a Phase 1b
trial with efficacy endpoints, investigating ZP9830 in people with
psoriasis. The trial was initiated on the back of positive topline
results from the single ascending dose (SAD) part of the combined
SAD/multiple ascending dose (MAD) Phase 1a clinical trial with ZP9830
announced earlier in the year.
Corporate
-- Camilla Sylvest and Iris Löw-Friedrich were elected to the Zealand
Pharma Board of Directors, both bringing deep expertise in metabolic
health. Two strategically vital additions as the company enters the next
phase of scaling into a generational biotech.
-- On May 7, 2026, Zealand Pharma launched a share buy-back program of up to
USD 200 million / DKK 1.3 billion. For more information on the share
buy-back program, refer to Zealand Pharma Company Announcement No.
13/2026, May 7, 2026. As of August 7, 2026, total accumulated
transactions under the program amount to DKK 742 million.
-- Zealand Pharma entered into a USD 100 million royalty purchase and sale
agreement with Royalty Pharma for rusfertide. For more information, refer
to Zealand Pharma Company Announcement No. 38/2026, August 12, 2026.
-- Continued to attract top talent and experienced leaders, with several
senior hires bringing vital experience in metabolic health. This momentum
was underscored by Medwatch's 2026 Image Report, in which Zealand Pharma
took the number one spot as the most attractive employer in the Danish
Life Science sector.
Upcoming events in the second half of 2026
Obesity
-- Petrelintide, amylin analog. In H2 2026, Zealand Pharma and Roche expect
to initiate registrational Phase 3 trials with petrelintide monotherapy.
-- Petrelintide, amylin analog. In H2 2026, Zealand Pharma expects to report
topline results from the Phase 2 ZUPREME-2 trial in people with
overweight or obesity and type 2 diabetes.
-- Petrelintide/enicepatide (CT-388), amylin+GLP-1/GIP fixed-dose
combination. Zealand Pharma and Roche expect to initiate the Phase 2
ZYNERGY trial in people with overweight or obesity in H2 2026.
-- Survodutide, glucagon/GLP-1 receptor dual agonist. Results from the Phase
3 SYNCHRONIZETM-2 trial will be presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of
the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD). Results from
the SYNCHRONIZETM-CVOT trial are expected to be reported and presented
later in the year.
Rare diseases
-- Glepaglutide in SBS. Zealand Pharma expects to complete the EU marketing
authorization application review in H2 2026. In parallel, the company is
engaging in partnership discussions for future commercialization of
glepaglutide for short bowel syndrome $(SBS)$.
-- Dasiglucagon in CHI. In H2 2026, Zealand Pharma expects to resubmit the
New Drug Application (NDA) for congenital hyperinsulinism $(CHI)$ to the
U.S. FDA. The submission will encompass both the three weeks use of
dasiglucagon (Part 1 of the original NDA) as well as the use beyond three
weeks (Part 2 of the original NDA).
Chronic inflammation
-- ZP9830, Kv1.3 Ion Channel Blocker. ZP9830, Kv1.3 Ion Channel Blocker.
Zealand Pharma expects to report topline data from the MAD part of the
Phase 1a clinical trial with ZP9830 in H2 2026.
Financial guidance for 2026
The financial guidance for collaboration revenue and operating expenses for 2026 is unchanged, and is expected to be DKK 4.5 billion and DKK 2.7-3.3 billion, respectively.
2026 2025
DKK billion Guidance(3) Actual
---------------------- ------------ -------
Collaboration revenue 4.5 9.2
---------------------- ------------ -------
Operating expenses,
excl. OOI 2.7-3.3 2.1
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Notes:
3. Financial guidance based on foreign exchange rates as of August 12, 2026.
Conference call today at 2 PM CET / 8 AM ET
Zealand Pharma's management will host a conference call today at 2:00 PM CET / 8:00 AM ET to present results through the first half of 2026 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.
To receive telephone dial-in information and a unique personal access PIN, please register at https://register-conf.media-server.com/register/BI5e8456a3bc14478c80422f79bbd72ef6. The live listen-only audio webcast of the call and accompanying slides presentation will be accessible at https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/nghag3p4. 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/events/.
Financial Calendar for 2026
Q3 2026 November 12, 2026 ---------- ----------------- Q4/FY 2026 February 25, 2027 ---------- -----------------
About Zealand Pharma A/S
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 data--driven and AI/ML approaches, Zealand Pharma aims to lead a new era in obesity and metabolic health.
To date, more than ten Zealand Pharma--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
Eric Rojas (Investors)
Vice President, Head of Investor Relations
erojas@zealandpharma.com
Neshat Anis Ahmadi (Investors)
Manager, Investor Relations
neahmadi@zealandpharma.com
Rachel James-Owens (Media)
Vice President, Corporate Communications & Media Relations
Zealand Pharma
Email: RJamesOwens@zealandpharma.com
Andreas Hylleberg (Media)
Director, External Communications
Zealand Pharma
Email: AHylleberg@zealandpharma.com
Amber Fennell, Jessica Hodgson, Sean Leous (Media)
ICR Healthcare
Email: ZealandPharma@icrhealthcare.com
+44 (0) 7739 658 783
Attachment
-- Zealand Pharma H1 2026 Interim Report