OTR Therapeutics may still be keeping its own pipeline under wraps, but Zealand Pharma has seen enough promise in the Chinese biotech’s platform to agree to up to $30 million in upfront payments.
Zealand wants to use OTR’s oral small-molecule platform to “discover and develop novel therapeutics for multiple targets in metabolic diseases,” according to a Dec. 11 release. In return, the Danish drug developer has agreed to hand over $20 million upfront—rising to $30 million “under certain pre-agreed conditions,” according to the release.
Beyond that, OTR will be eligible for preclinical, development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments that could reach $2.5 billion “with the majority representing commercial milestones.” The Chinese company will also be in line for tiered single-digit royalties on worldwide sales should a drug eventually make it to market.
Zealand put this morning’s deal in the context of an updated strategy dubbed “Metabolic Frontier 2030.” The road map includes targeting five product launches by 2030 as well as evolving “industry-leading cycle times from idea to clinic.”
The ultimate goal is to become a “generational biotech leader in obesity and metabolic health,” the company explained in a separate release this morning.
Zealand’s pipeline includes the phase 2-stage Roche-partnered amylin analogue petrelintide as well as the phase 3-stage glucagon/GLP-1 receptor dual agonist survodutide, which is in development with Boehringer Ingelheim.
Last month, Zealand hit pause on one of its obesity candidates, known as dapiglutide, as the company strives to focus its time and money on “programs with the greatest potential for clinical differentiation and long-term value creation.”
Zealand Chief Scientific Officer Utpal Singh, Ph.D., said the multiprogram pact with OTR “will expand our metabolic health pipeline into oral small-molecule therapeutics for targets where we have deep biological expertise, complementing our strong peptide R&D platform.”
“This partnership is an early testament—with more to follow—to the execution of our updated strategy to further strengthen and evolve our platform, broadening treatment options for people living with overweight, obesity, and other metabolic diseases,” Singh added. “We are confident the partnership with OTR Therapeutics will be highly productive in achieving our shared goal of expanding treatment options for people living with metabolic diseases.”
We still don’t know too much about OTR. The Shanghai-based company—which only launched back in March—has so far kept its pipeline under wraps, only disclosing that it covers “differentiated programs that target significant treatment gaps in immunology and inflammation, oncology and other disease areas,” such as cardiometabolic conditions.
OTR also revealed last week that it had raised a $100 million series A back in June, backed by the likes of Pfizer Ventures. The biotech—which is already a member of the Bayer Co.Lab life sciences incubator network—is using the series A funds to expand the capability of its hub in Shanghai's Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park.
OTR’s founder and CEO Zhui Chen, Ph.D., said this morning’s pact “represents a strong endorsement of our proprietary platform and strategic vision, and our proven ability to drive innovation and deliver quality and speed in execution.”
“By combining our strengths in innovative drug discovery and development with Zealand Pharma’s deep expertise in the disease area, we are well positioned to discover potentially transformative therapies for patients worldwide,” the CEO added.