Overview
Zealand Pharma is a Denmark-based biotechnology company that discovers, designs, and develops peptide medicines. Its work focuses on metabolic health—including overweight, obesity, and metabolic imbalance—as well as rare diseases and chronic inflammation; its business is primarily research and development and partnerships rather than sales of marketed products.[1][2]
Key investigational medicines include petrelintide for weight management, survodutide, glepaglutide for short bowel syndrome, and dasiglucagon programs. These are pipeline programs, not all approved products. Zealand’s operations are centered in Denmark, with a U.S. presence in Boston, and it works with international partners, including Roche on petrelintide.[https://www.zealandpharma.com/Pipeline/][httpshttps://www.zealandpharma.com/pipeline/petrelintide/][P63721065][P53260268]
The company describes its purpose in terms of addressing unmet medical needs and improving health outcomes for people affected by metabolic conditions. Founded in 1998, Zealand reported 501 employees at year-end 2025 and revenue of DKK 9,215 million for 2025, primarily related to the Roche collaboration rather than product sales.[1][6][7][8] [1][2][3][9][4][5][6][7][8][2][3][9]
Products & services
Zealand Pharma’s portfolio is centered on peptide medicines. Its leading investigational program, petrelintide, is a long-acting amylin analog in development for chronic weight management, designed for once-weekly subcutaneous administration. Zealand and Roche are also developing petrelintide in a fixed-dose combination with Roche’s GLP-1/GIP agonist CT-388 (enicepatide). Survodutide, a once-weekly dual glucagon/GLP-1 receptor agonist for obesity and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), is licensed to Boehringer Ingelheim for global development and commercialization.[10][11][12][9][13][14]
Other pipeline products include glepaglutide (Zeydovio), a long-acting GLP-2 analog for short bowel syndrome, formulated as a ready-to-use fixed dose for subcutaneous autoinjector delivery; in September 2026 the EMA’s CHMP recommended it for EU authorization, which is not itself final marketing authorization. Dasiglucagon, distinct from its rescue-injection product, is being developed for continuous subcutaneous infusion to treat congenital hyperinsulinism, using a stable glucagon analog intended for wearable-pump delivery. Zealand is also developing ZP9830, a selective Kv1.3 ion-channel blocker for T-cell-driven inflammatory disease, and ZP6590, a long-acting GIP-receptor agonist for obesity designed for potential co-formulation with other peptides.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]
ZEGALOGUE (dasiglucagon injection) is an approved subcutaneous rescue treatment for severe hypoglycemia in adults and children weighing at least 20 kg, supplied as an autoinjector or prefilled syringe. Zealand licensed it to Novo Nordisk; after the agreement ended in January 2026, Novo ceased U.S. sales, marketing and distribution. Zealand also has a history of licensing lixisenatide for type 2 diabetes and of owning the V-Go wearable insulin-delivery device, which it sold in 2022.[25][26][27][28]
Zealand’s FY2025 revenue was predominantly collaboration and license revenue rather than product sales: Roche accounted for about 99.6% of total revenue, while product sales were about 0.009%, based on reported revenue of DKK 9,214.9 million, including DKK 816,000 in product sales. Zealand describes peptide discovery, design, chemistry, biology and formulation capabilities; reported R&D reimbursements are collaboration revenue, not evidence of a separate contract-research service business.[8][29][30][31][32][33] [10][11][12][15][16][17][18][19][25][26][27][8][29][30][31][9][13][14][20][21][22][23][24][28][32][33]
Geographic presence
Zealand Pharma is headquartered in Søborg, Denmark, where its main research and development operations are based. Its official contact information lists its Søborg office at Sydmarken 11, 2860 Søborg, and a Boston office at 50 Milk St.; the company has also reported a Boston-area research presence, including a Cambridge, Massachusetts research hub in 2026.[4][34][35][36] In 2025, Zealand reported 484 employees in Denmark and 17 in the United States, out of 501 employees overall.[6]
Zealand reports its operations as one business unit and does not provide revenue or segment results by geographical market, so geographic sales shares are not available from its reporting.[37] [4][35][6][6][37][34][36]
Business segments
Zealand Pharma reports its operations as **one business unit**, with no separately identified lines of business by product, candidate, or geography; accordingly, it does not report formal segment revenue or segment contribution percentages.[37]
Its portfolio is organized around **obesity and related comorbidities** and **rare disease**. Pipeline examples include petrelintide and petrelintide/CT-388 for obesity, survodutide for obesity and MASH, dasiglucagon for congenital hyperinsulinism, and glepaglutide for short bowel syndrome. These are portfolio focus areas, not reported financial segments.[38]
As an approximate revenue proxy rather than a segment allocation, H1 2026 revenue was DKK 4,525 million, including reported Roche milestone and anniversary payments totaling about DKK 4.5 billion—approximately 99% of revenue using the rounded amounts disclosed. The company does not report that collaboration revenue as a separate operating segment.[39] [37][38][39]
Company history
Zealand Pharma was founded in 1998; a later company report gives 1999, so its founding year is not consistent across company materials. Its founders included SIP® inventor Bjarne Due Larsen and Lars Hellerung Christiansen.[40] In 2003, it licensed lixisenatide to Sanofi for development and commercialization, establishing an early partnership around its peptide research.[41]
The company listed on Nasdaq OMX Copenhagen in 2010 and added a Nasdaq U.S. listing in 2017.[42][43] From 2017 to 2019, it entered development collaborations with Boehringer Ingelheim and Alexion, and in 2018 sold future royalties and most associated commercial milestones from Sanofi products to Royalty Pharma.[44][45][46]
In 2021, the FDA approved dasiglucagon (Zegalogue) for severe hypoglycemia; Zealand launched it in the United States that June, marking its first independent product launch.[47][48] In 2022, Adam Steensberg succeeded Emmanuel Dulac as CEO.[49] In 2025, Zealand signed a collaboration and license agreement with Roche to co-develop and co-commercialize petrelintide.[5] [40][41][44][45][46][48][49][5][42][43][47]
Sources
- ZEALAND PHARMA — Full financial report (2025 Y)
- www.zealandpharma.com[2]
- www.zealandpharma.com[3]
- www.zealandpharma.com[9]
- ZEALAND PHARMA — Full financial report (2026 Q 1)
- www.zealandpharma.com[13]
- www.zealandpharma.com[14]
- www.zealandpharma.com[20]
- www.zealandpharma.com[21]
- www.zealandpharma.com[22]
- www.zealandpharma.com[23]
- www.ema.europa.eu[24]
- www.accessdata.fda.gov[28]
- www.zealandpharma.com[32]
- www.zealandpharma.com[33]
- www.zealandpharma.com[34]
- www.zealandpharma.com[36]
- ZEALAND PHARMA — Presentation (2025 Y)[38]
- www.zealandpharma.com[39]
- ZEALAND PHARMA — Full financial report (2023 Y)[40][49]
- ZEALAND PHARMA — Full financial report (2019 Y)
- www.kurmapartners.com[42]
- www.nasdaq.com[43]
- www.zealandpharma.com[47]
- ZEALAND PHARMA — Full financial report (2024 Y)[48]
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