Zealand Pharma Shares Plunge After Obesity Drug Candidate Disappoints in Trial

By Adria Calatayud

Zealand Pharma shares fell sharply after the Danish biotechnology company reported weaker-than-expected data from a midstage study of an obesity drug candidate it is jointly developing with Roche Holding.

Shares in Zealand plunged as much as 32% shortly after the opening bell on Friday, and have more than halved their value over the past year. Shares in Roche were down 2.7% in European morning trade.

The market reaction to the study results highlights investors' scrutiny of new weight-loss drugs pharmaceutical companies are working on to challenge Eli Lilly's lead. Shares in Novo Nordisk, which pioneered the obesity-drug market, also took a hit last month after a next-generation weight-loss drug failed to outperform Lilly's Zepbound in a head-to-head study.

Zealand and Roche said petrelintide--the drug they are codeveloping under a licensing deal of up to $5.3 billion they struck last year--achieved weight loss of up to 10.7% at week 42 in a Phase 2 clinical trial. The trial met its primary goal and the drug showed a tolerability profile comparable to placebo, the companies said.

Petrelintide's efficacy fell short of both the 13% to 15% weight loss analysts at Jefferies expected and the more than 15% investors likely hoped for, the investment bank said in a research note. A placebo-like tolerability profile suggests petrelintide is a viable drug, but will probably be seen as a second-best behind Lilly's experimental eloralintide injection, the Jefferies analysts added.

Roche and Zealand said the data from the trial support further development of petrelintide in chronic weight management as a standalone therapy or in combination with other drugs.

Zealand said it expects a midstage trial to explore the combination of petrelintide and Roche's obesity drug candidate CT-388 in the first half, with a late-stage study for petrelintide as a monotherapy due to start in the second half.

The combination of petrelintide and CT-388 has greater potential, analysts at Citi wrote in a note to clients.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 06, 2026 04:24 ET (09:24 GMT)