Zealand Pharma (ZEAL.CO) President and CEO Dr. David Solomon details timeframes in the development of lixisenatide, a treatment for type-2 diabetes licensed to Sanofi (SNY), in an exclusive video interview with PropThink.com.
“We’ve had a terrific partnership with [Sanofi] since 2003. They’ve advanced this through ten Phase III studies, 38 countries, 400 sites, and over 4300 patients , and we’re very pleased to report that the results of all those ten trials have been positive to date,” says Solomon.
Currently lead by Novo Nordisk’s (NVO) Victoza and Amylin’s (AMLN) exenatide products, lixisenatide sets itself apart in this growing GLP-1 market ($6B by 2017) with good glycemic control and weight-loss – often difficult for diabetes patients. They hope to market the treatment as a monotherapy and also as a combination product with leading global insulin Lantus.
Solomon says Zealand is also seeking partnerships for some of their 11 early-stage pipeline candidates. He discusses implications of the company’s balance sheet and Zealand’s financial outlook for the next few years as they focus on novel poly-pharmacological approaches to diabetes treatment.
