Zealand Pharma与AI蛋白设计公司Generate Biomedicines达成最高约12亿美元减肥药研发合作

Zealand Pharma A/S is teaming up with Generate Biomedicines Inc. in a billion-dollar deal to develop new obesity treatments using artificial intelligence, expanding the race for the next generation of weight-loss drugs.

The Danish biotechnology company will pay Generate $30 million upfront and $35 million for early milestones, with the potential for nearly $1.2 billion in total payments tied to research, development, regulatory and commercial milestones, according to a document reviewed by Bloomberg. The agreement initially covers two experimental drug programs, with an option to add a third.

The partnership underscores how drugmakers are increasingly turning to AI to develop more sophisticated medicines as competition intensifies in the lucrative obesity market. Companies are testing new approaches that could improve on the effectiveness, tolerability and convenience of existing treatments from Eli Lilly & Co. and Novo Nordisk A/S.

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For Zealand, the deal represents an effort to broaden its drug development capabilities. The company, in partnership with Roche Holding AG, is currently testing experimental treatments targeting amylin, a hormone that helps regulate appetite. It’s also developing drugs aimed at other metabolic pathways.

The Zealand-Generate collaboration will focus on developing multispecific proteins, which are engineered to interact with two or more biological targets. Such medicines could potentially address several mechanisms involved in obesity and metabolic diseases within a single treatment.

Generate, which is backed by Flagship Pioneering, uses generative AI to design proteins with specific biological functions, then tests them in a lab and feeds the results back into its models to improve future designs. Rather than screening existing molecules, the companies plan to first identify the characteristics they want in a medicine and use AI to design proteins that could deliver those effects.

The Somerville, Massachusetts-based company will lead early research through the selection of promising drug candidates, while Zealand will oversee potential clinical trials, regulatory approvals and eventual commercialization.

The agreement also builds on Zealand’s ambitions to establish a broader research operation in the US. The company recently opened a research and development hub in Cambridge, Massachusetts, expanding its scientific presence beyond its Copenhagen headquarters.

The partnership offers Generate an opportunity to apply its AI-driven protein-engineering technology to obesity, where pharmaceutical companies are investing heavily in treatments targeting multiple hormones and biological pathways.

The companies didn’t disclose which specific targets they plan to pursue or when the first experimental medicines might enter human testing.