Under the agreement, Zealand will collaborate with Lilly in the design and development of potentially first-in-class peptide therapeutics for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes and obesity based on a novel approach discovered by Lilly. The companies will share in the funding, risk and reward of the program. Future expansion of the collaboration to additional drug targets and disease areas is possible. No financial terms of the agreement have been disclosed.

“We are very excited about this collaboration that allows us to work with Lilly and exploit the synergies of our mutual focus to provide better diabetes medicines. Forming such an important partnership is a further powerful validation of Zealand’s unique capabilities in peptide innovation and development,” said David Solomon, CEO of Zealand. “The structure and potential of this collaboration is an embodiment of our strategy to apply a partner-focused approach in our continued efforts to push the boundaries for designing novel peptide therapies and expand their use to benefit patients and build long term value in our business.”

”Lilly scientists have discovered a novel peptide hormone-based approach which has the potential to lower blood glucose as well as body weight,” said Ruth Gimeno, Ph.D., chief scientific officer for diabetes drug discovery at Lilly. ”We are pleased to engage in a collaborative program with Zealand with the objective of advancing this concept toward early development.”