Zealand Pharma announces final closing of the license agreement with Abbott on AP214 (ZP1480)

6/19/2012 4:23 AM EST

Zealand Pharma A/S
Company Announcement

Zealand Pharma announces final closing of the license agreement with Abbott on
AP214 (ZP1480)

Copenhagen, 2012-06-19 10:23 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zealand Pharma A/S
(NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen: ZEAL) announces the final closing of the company’s
license agreement with Abbott for the development and commercialization of
AP214 (referred to as ZP1480 by Zealand Pharma) as described in Company
Announcement no. 14-12 on 3 May 2012.  The final closing follows the receipt of
U.S. Antitrust clearance of the agreement between Action Pharma and Abbott on
the acquisition by Abbott of all rights to AP214 from Action Pharma. 



AP214 (ZP1480) is a first-in-class melanocortin peptide agonist, invented and
developed by Action Pharma A/S, and modified by using Zealand Pharma’s
SIP®-technology. 



As part of the closing of the license agreement with Abbott, Zealand Pharma has
received payment of USD 11 (DKK 66) million from Action Pharma as announced in
Company Announcement no. 14-12. 

                                        

                                        

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For further information, please contact:



Zealand Pharma A/S

David H. Solomon, President & CEO, Tel: +45 22 20 63 00

Hanne Leth Hillman, Vice President, Director of IR & Corporate Communication,

Tel: +45 50 60 36 89, email:  



About AP214 (ZP1480)

AP214 (ZP1480) is an a-MSH peptide derivative, modified with Zealand Pharma’s
proprietary SIP® technology (Structure Inducing Probe technology). AP214 has
shown positive effects in preclinical disease models for the treatment and
prevention of inflammation and general organ damage in conditions such as
post-surgical organ dysfunction. In clinical studies, AP214 has shown to be
safe and well tolerated and with positive effects in the prevention of kidney
injury in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. 



About Zealand Pharma

Zealand Pharma A/S (NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen: ZEAL) is a biotechnology company
based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Zealand Pharma specializes in the discovery,
optimization and development of novel peptide drugs and has a broad and mature
pipeline of drug candidates identified through its own drug discovery
activities. The company’s focus lies in the field of diabetes/metabolic
diseases, and its lead drug invention is lixisenatide (Lyxumia®)1, a once-daily
GLP-1 agonist, which is licensed to Sanofi for the treatment of Type 2
diabetes. In November 2011, Sanofi filed for registration of lixisenatide in
Europe and regulatory filing in the United States is expected in Q4 2012. 

Zealand Pharma has a partnering strategy for the development and
commercialization of its products and in addition to the collaboration with
Sanofi in Type 2 diabetes, the company has partnerships with Boehringer
Ingelheim in diabetes/obesity, Abbott in acute kidney injury and Helsinn
Healthcare in chemotherapy induced diarrhea. Zealand Pharma focuses its
activities in disease areas where existing treatments fail to adequately serve
patient needs and where the market potential for improved treatments through
the use of peptide drugs is high. For further information:
www.zealandpharma.com. 

  1. Lyxumia is the proprietary name submitted to the EMA for lixisenatide. The
     proprietary name for lixisenatide in the United States is under
     consideration. Lixisenatide is not currently approved or licensed anywhere
     in the world.