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Author: Annalee Armstrong

  • Despite Zealand asset’s ‘intriguing’ weight loss, analysts underwhelmed by blood sugar numbers

    Despite Zealand asset’s ‘intriguing’ weight loss, analysts underwhelmed by blood sugar numbers

    Zealand Pharma’s Roche-partnered obesity asset cut weight to a degree William Blair analysts dubbed “intriguing,” but the asset “underwhelmed” on blood sugar reduction for diabetes. The mid-stage readout was the second from Zealand’s pipeline of next-gen weight loss assets to disappoint investors in a week.

    In the Phase 2 ZUPREME-2 trial, petrelintide, a long-acting human amylin analog, achieved up to 9.2% mean weight loss at week 28 depending on the dose, compared to just 2% for placebo comparators, according to Zealand’s Thursday press release. The study, which featured 220 patients with obesity or overweight who also had type 2 diabetes (T2D), therefore hit its primary endpoint of statistically significant and clinically meaningful reductions in body weight at that time point, compared to placebo.

    The results—which were based on efficacy estimand, or the estimated treatment effect assuming patients remained on treatment for the duration of the study—are in line with Eli Lilly’s rival amylin receptor agonist eloralintide and the approved GLP-1 Zepbound, William Blair analysts said in a Wednesday afternoon note. Both of those drugs achieved about 7% placebo-adjusted weight loss at the same time point, according to the firm. Meanwhile, Zealand’s asset outperformed Novo’s Wegovy, which notched 4–5% weight loss in that time frame.

    Nevertheless, William Blair analysts said they were “disappointed” the asset did not yield greater weight loss.

    Moreover, petrelintide only reduced A1C, a measure of average blood sugar levels that is used as key marker of disease control in T2D, at a rate of up to 0.65% compared to an increase of 0.23% for placebo participants, according to Zealand’s release. The aforementioned rival therapies achieved A1C reductions within a range of 1.3%–2.1%, William Blair said. The firm was also concerned by the increase seen in the placebo arm, which is “unusual in the context of obesity and/or T2D studies.”

    On a more positive note, safety results were as expected, leaving William Blair with continued conviction in the asset’s differentiated tolerability profile. Gastrointestinal-related adverse events did crop up, but most were mild and occurred during the escalation period, and resulted in a discontinuation rate due of just 1.9% of participants in the treatment arm, versus 1.7% of those taking placebo. The therapy seems to provide “an improved treatment experience” over approved weight loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound, the analysts said.

    “Overall, based on the collective Phase II ZUPREME-1 and ZUPREME-2 trial results, we believe petrelintide demonstrated highly encouraging tolerability, though the magnitude of weight loss (along with HbA1c reduction in ZUPREME-2) disappointed,” William Blair wrote. “Our current view is that petrelintide will likely be used primarily in the maintenance setting, which demands a therapeutic intervention that exhibits placebo-like tolerability for chronic use.” Petrelintide could also find a foothold in the overweight segment of the market, helping these patients lose weight without safety concerns and improve cardiovascular risk, the firm added.

    The ZUPREME-2 reveal comes a week after Zealand and partner Boehringer Ingelheim reported disappointing Phase 3 weight loss results for the glucagon/GLP-1 receptor dual agonist survodutide.

    Similar to the new petrelintide readout, survodutide underperformed expectations. The company reported weight loss of up to 13.1% at 76 weeks, but an adjacent publication in The New England Journal of Medicine put the value at 9.8% for patients who received the highest dose.

    Shares of Zealand dropped more than 8% to $248.50 on the Danish market following last week’s results, and trended further down today, resting at around $240 as of publication.

    Despite meeting the primary endpoints in a Phase 3 trial, shares of Zealand Pharma dropped in premarket trading Thursday as the up to 9.8% weight loss reflected inferior loss to that generated by competitors.

    October 1, 2026

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    2 min read

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    The mixed results won’t hold back petrelintide, however. Zealand and Roche recently kicked off a Phase 3a program for the asset. ZUPREME-3, ZUPREME-4 and ZUPREME-5 will include 7,000 patients with obesity or overweight without T2D, with T2D and with cardiovascular disease, respectively.

    But after a busy few weeks of readouts, investors will have to wait a while for the next big catalyst for Zealand, William Blair pointed out. The company does have a strong cash position, share buyback program and a deep pipeline.

    “While we believe these factors should support long‑term value creation and eventual share price appreciation, the lack of meaningful catalysts within the next year that could alter investor sentiment on petrelintide limits near-term upside and supports a more balanced risk/reward profile,” the firm wrote.

    Roche licensed petrelintide in March 2025 to pair with its own dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist CT-388. The deal offered Zealand $1.65 billion upfront, while the total deal value, including milestones and other payments, could reach $5.3 billion.

  • Cerevance Parkinson’s drug shortens ‘off time’ in Ph. 3, paving path to FDA

    Cerevance Parkinson’s drug shortens ‘off time’ in Ph. 3, paving path to FDA

    Takeda neuroscience spinout Cerevance will head to the FDA to discuss an approval path for the Parkinson’s disease therapy solengepras after the drug reduced the period of time in which standard drugs wear off and symptoms return during a late-stage clinical trial.

    A high 150-mg dose of solengepras improved average daily “off time” by 0.61 hours as compared to placebo at week 12, meeting the main goal of the Phase 3 ARISE trial. This benefit showed up as early as the second week. Conversely, the therapy also increased “on time” without difficult symptoms like dyskinesia—the hallmark involuntary, erratic movements associated with Parkinson’s. This was a key secondary endpoint of the trial.

    Cerevance also noted improvements in daytime sleepiness and quality of life, which “point to broad motor and non-motor benefit,” according to a Wednesday press release. The data were presented at the 2026 International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders in Seoul, Korea.

    The ARISE study examined two solengepras doses as an adjunct treatment in 341 patients with Parkinson’s who experience motor fluctuations with standard-of-care levodopa and other medications. At baseline, patients on average experienced 5.65 hours of off time daily. That number dropped by 1.56 hours in patients receiving the 150-mg dose, versus a 0.95-hour drop in the placebo group. Participants in the higher-dose group also showed statistically significant motor improvements, additional secondary endpoints of the trial. Cerevance did not report efficacy data for the lower 75-mg dose.

    The privately held company will now head to the FDA to discuss a regulatory path for solengepras.

    While some drugmakers continue to walk the alpha-synuclein antibody path, others like AC Immune opt for new approaches that could bring the first-ever disease-modifying therapy for Parkinson’s disease.

    September 8, 2026

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    6 min read

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    As for safety, Cerevance said that solengepras was generally well tolerated. No serious adverse events were reported in the solengepras 150-mg dose group, compared with a rate of 1.8% for the 75-mg arm and 0.9% for placebo, and overall discontinuation rate due to adverse events across all arms of the trial, including placebo, was 3.5%. The most commonly reported safety events were headache and urinary tract infection.

    Solengepras targets the GPR6 receptor to improve motor and non-motor function without altering dopamine levels or signaling as do standard Parkinson’s therapies, which do not address the underlying cause of the disease and often wear off as the brain’s ability to store dopamine continues to fade. Levodopa specifically can cause dyskinesia over time, leading to increases in off time. Cerevance reported dyskinesia in 4.4% of patients receiving the high dose of solengepras compared to 1.8% for placebo.

    Cerevance is one of a few companies working to improve treatment options for patients with Parkinson’s. Late last month, AbbVie received approval for tavapadon, which is to be marketed as Juvmo. The drug, which is the first selective D1/D5 receptor agonist to become available in the U.S., came from the $8.7 billion takeout of Cerevel in December 2023.

    But drug development in the space has been tough, with many failed attempts such as Biogen and Denali’s BIIB122. The therapy failed to slow disease progression during a Phase 2b trial and was discontinued earlier this year.

    Other biotechs in the game include Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly’s Ventyx Therapeutics and Insilico Medicine.