Zealand pays Chinese OTR US$30m upfront to expand obesity pipeline

Danish Zealand Pharma A/S and 9-months-old OTR Therapeutics Co. Ltd have launched a potential US$2.5bn multi-programme strategic collaboration and license agreement to co-discover and co-develop novel oral small-molecule therapeutics for obesity, marking a strategic expansion beyond Zealand’s peptide pipeline into orally delivered drug modalities. The partnership signals growing industry interest in diversifying obesity drug modalities amid rising efficacy benchmarks set by next-generation therapies such as retatrutide.

Under the agreement, OTR Therapeutics will receive an initial upfront payment of US$30m with milestone payments totalling up to US$2.5bn. OTR will also be eligible for tiered single-digit royalties on worldwide net sales should any product reach the market. Zealand Pharma will assume responsibility for clinical development, regulatory submissions, and worldwide commercialisation of joint discoveries.

The collaboration combines Zealand’s expertise in obesity and related disorders with OTR’s oral small-molecule drug discovery platform and R&D capabilities. Zealand has framed the deal within its “Obesity Frontier 2030” strategy, which targets five product launches by 2030 and seeks to accelerate cycle times from concept through clinic to establish the company as a leader in obesity therapeutics.

Zealand’s existing pipeline includes peptide-based assets such as petrelintide, a Phase  II amylin analogue, and survodutide, a Phase  III glucagon/GLP-1 receptor dual agonist in partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim. Zealand recently paused development of dapiglutide, a dual GLP-1/GLP-2 agent, to prioritise programmes with the greatest potential for clinical differentiation and long-term value creation. The OTR collaboration is intended to broaden the company’s modality mix, addressing broader and potentially novel obesity targets.

OTR Therapeutics, founded in March 2025, has largely kept its discovery portfolio confidential, citing programmes that address unmet needs across obesity, cardiometabolic diseases, immunology, inflammation, and oncology. The company secured US$100m in Series A financing in June 2025, backed by Pfizer Ventures and integrated into the Bayer Co.Lab life sciences incubator network, and is scaling operations at its Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park hub in Shanghai.

OTR’s founder and CEO Zhui Chen, Ph.D., described the agreement as a strong validation of OTR’s proprietary platform and strategic direction, emphasizing the combination of OTR’s discovery strengths with Zealand’s obesity development expertise as a pathway to potentially transformative therapies for global patient populations.

Competitive landscape and market context

The collaboration comes as next-generation obesity therapies push the boundaries of efficacy. The global obesity drug market is projected to exceed US$100bn by the early 2030s, driven by rising disease prevalence, enhanced clinical efficacy, and expanded indications. Zealand’s broadened portfolio strategy, anchored by peptide assets and now bolstered by oral small-molecule discovery, positions the company to compete across multiple targets in a rapidly evolving competitive environment.