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OTR Therapeutics, a biotechnology company dedicated to transforming early-stage innovations into globally impactful therapies for unmet medical needs, and Zealand Pharma A/S, founded in 1998, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark is a biotechnology company transforming the future of metabolic health, announced a multi-programme strategic collaboration and license agreement to discover and develop novel therapeutics for metabolic diseases.
The collaboration brings together Zealand Pharma's deep expertise in obesity and metabolic health with OTR Therapeutics' proprietary R&D platform, scientific rigor, and unique strengths in speed, efficiency, and quality - supported by strong ties to regional R&D networks - to develop transformative treatment options for millions of people living with metabolic diseases. By pursuing next-generation therapeutics, we will meaningfully expand treatment options.
Collaboration will combine Zealand Pharma's expertise in obesity and metabolic health with OTR Therapeutics' proprietary oral small-molecule platform and strong drug discovery capabilities, to discover and develop novel therapeutics for multiple targets in metabolic diseases.
"We are excited to partner with OTR Therapeutics. The multi-program collaboration will expand our metabolic health pipeline into oral small-molecule therapeutics for targets where we have deep biological expertise, complementing our strong peptide R&D platform," said Utpal Singh, chief scientific officer of Zealand Pharma. "This partnership is an early testament - with more to follow - to the execution of our updated strategy to further strengthen and evolve our platform, broadening treatment options for people living with overweight, obesity, and other metabolic diseases. We are confident the partnership with OTR Therapeutics will be highly productive in achieving our shared goal of expanding treatment options for people living with metabolic diseases."
"We are thrilled to partner with Zealand Pharma, a company renowned for its legacy and expertise in metabolic diseases," said Zhui Chen, founder and chief executive officer of OTR Therapeutics. "This collaboration represents a strong endorsement of our proprietary platform and strategic vision, and our proven ability to drive innovation and deliver quality and speed in execution. By combining our strengths in innovative drug discovery and development with Zealand Pharma's deep expertise in the disease area, we are well positioned to discover potentially transformative therapies for patients worldwide."
Under the terms of the agreement, OTR Therapeutics and Zealand Pharma will co-discover and co-develop innovative therapies for multiple targets in metabolic diseases. OTR Therapeutics will leverage its proprietary discovery platform to lead and conduct research and preclinical development. Zealand Pharma will assume responsibility for clinical development, regulatory submissions, and commercialization worldwide.
OTR Therapeutics will receive an initial upfront payment of USD 20 million, which may increase to USD 30 million under certain pre-agreed conditions, and is eligible for potential pre-specified preclinical, development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments. The potential total consideration is up to USD ~2.5 billion, with the majority representing commercial milestones. OTR Therapeutics is also eligible to receive tiered single-digit royalties on worldwide net sales of any commercialized products resulting from the collaboration.
Zealand Pharma has 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.
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