Zealand Pharma与Generate Biomedicines达成AI蛋白疗法合作，Generate获3000万美元首付及近12亿美元里程碑

Press release – No. 20 / 2026
Zealand Pharma and Generate Biomedicines Enter Collaboration and License Agreement to Develop Protein Therapeutics Engineered with AI for Metabolic Diseases
Collaboration will combine Zealand Pharma’s expertise in metabolic health with Generate’s proprietary generative AI platform to create multispecific drug candidates with tailored biological functions
Generate will receive USD 30 million up-front, up to USD 35 million in early preclinical milestones, and a total of nearly USD 1.2 billion in milestones, plus tiered royalties for two initial programs, with an option to add a third
The agreement will broaden Zealand Pharma’s modality capabilities beyond peptides while extending The Generate Platform into obesity and other metabolic diseases
Copenhagen, Denmark, October 13, 2026
– Zealand Pharma A/S (Nasdaq: ZEAL) (CVR-no. 20045078), a biotechnology company transforming the future of metabolic health, today announced a multi-target strategic collaboration with Generate Biomedicines Inc. (“Generate”) (NASDAQ: GENB). Under the collaboration, the companies intend to design and develop multispecific protein therapeutics for obesity and other metabolic diseases using The Generate Platform, which integrates generative AI with high-throughput experimental validation.
The collaboration is intended to accelerate the design and development of protein therapeutics for obesity and metabolic disease by combining Zealand Pharma’s expertise in metabolic health with Generate’s ability to engineer proteins with AI and refine those designs using experimental data toward the desired biological function.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with Generate, a leader in AI and structure-enabled drug generation. This collaboration expands our toolbox to include proteins, complementing our existing small-molecule and peptide capabilities and opening new approaches for polypharmacology for innovative therapeutics,” said Utpal Singh, Chief Scientific Officer at Zealand Pharma. “This collaboration reflects our strategy of expanding our platform and integrating our metabolic expertise in Copenhagen with the multi-modality expertise in Cambridge to develop next-generation therapeutics for metabolic health.”
“We are excited to bring together Zealand Pharma’s deep expertise in peptide therapeutics and metabolic disease with Generate’s cutting-edge computational platform and experimental capabilities to address the continued unmet medical need for patients with cardiometabolic disease,” said Mike Nally, chief executive officer of Generate. “Together, our teams will first define what a great medicine for patients looks like for each of the two initial programs, and then leverage The Generate Platform to design multispecific candidates that meet or exceed that profile.”
About the Collaboration
Under the terms of the agreement, Generate will use its proprietary generative AI platform to lead research through lead-candidate selection. Zealand Pharma will assume responsibility for subsequent clinical development, regulatory submissions, and worldwide commercialization.
For the two initial programs, Generate will receive USD 30 million up-front and up to USD 35 million in early preclinical milestones, and is eligible for total milestones of nearly USD 1.2 billion, including potential development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, plus tiered royalties on future worldwide net sales of any commercialized products resulting from the collaboration.
Cooley LLP acted as legal advisor to Zealand Pharma. Ropes & Gray LLP acted as legal advisor to Generate.
About Zealand Pharma
Zealand Pharma A/S (Nasdaq: ZEAL) is a biotechnology company focused on advancing medicines for obesity and metabolic health. Combining 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 10 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.
Founded in 1998, Zealand Pharma is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with a U.S. presence in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Learn more at
www.zealandpharma.com
.
About Generate:Biomedicines Inc.
Generate (NASDAQ: GENB) is a clinical-stage generative biology company founded at the intersection of machine learning, biological engineering, and medicine, advancing a new era of programmable biology to engineer better drug candidates for patients, faster. The Generate Platform integrates computational design with large-scale biological experimentation, enabling the creation of novel, optimized therapeutics that address historically undruggable and hard-to-drug targets, as well as known targets in new and more effective ways. The platform has enabled the generation of a broad pipeline across multiple therapeutic areas and protein-based modalities, addressing health challenges out of reach of traditional approaches. Founded in 2018, Generate is leading a fundamental shift from drug discovery to drug generation. Learn more at
www.generatebiomedicines.com
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Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements,” as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 in the United States, as amended. Even though no longer listed in the United States, this is used as a definition to provide Zealand Pharma’s expectations or forecasts of future events regarding the research, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products; the timing of the company’s pre-clinical and clinical trials; and the reporting of data therefrom. These forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “goal,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “will,” “would,” and other words and terms of similar meaning. You should not place undue reliance on these statements, or on the scientific data presented. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and inaccurate assumptions, which may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations set forth herein and may cause any or all of such forward-looking statements to be incorrect, and which include, but are not limited to, unexpected costs or delays in clinical trials and other development activities due to adverse safety events, patient recruitment or otherwise; unexpected concerns that may arise from additional data, analysis or results obtained during clinical trials; our ability to successfully market both new and existing products; changes in reimbursement rules and governmental laws and related interpretation thereof; government-mandated or market-driven price decreases for our products; introduction of competing products; production problems at third-party manufacturers; dependency on third parties, for instance contract research or development organizations; unexpected growth in costs and expenses; our ability to affect the strategic reorganization of our businesses in the manner planned; failure to protect and enforce our data, intellectual property, and other proprietary rights and uncertainties relating to intellectual property claims and challenges; regulatory authorities may require additional information or further studies, or may reject, fail to approve or may delay approval of our drug candidates or expansion of product labeling; failure to obtain regulatory approvals in other jurisdictions; exposure to product liability and other claims; interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; unexpected contract breaches or terminations; inflationary pressures on the global economy; and political uncertainty. If any or all of such forward-looking statements prove to be incorrect, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied by such statements. The foregoing sets forth many, but not all, of the factors that could cause actual results to differ from our expectations in any forward-looking statement. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this company announcement and are based on information available to Zealand Pharma as of the date of this announcement. We do not undertake to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof. Information concerning pharmaceuticals (including compounds under development) contained within this material is not intended as advertising or medical advice.
Contacts
Eric Rojas (Investors)
Vice President, Head of Investor Relations
Zealand Pharma
Email:
erojas@zealandpharma.com
Neshat Anis Ahmadi (Investors)
Investor Relations Manager
Zealand Pharma
Email:
neahmadi@zealandpharma.com
Rachel James-Owens (Media)
Vice President, Corporate Communications & Media Relations
Zealand Pharma
Email:
rjamesowens@zealandpharma.com
Andreas Hylleberg Mølleskov (Media)
Director, External Communications
Zealand Pharma
Email:
ahylleberg@zealandpharma.com