Significant growth in revenue, sustained cash position

Copenhagen, 2012-02-01 08:47 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Company Announcement

No. 01/2012

                                        

Copenhagen, 1 February 2012 - Zealand Pharma A/S (NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen: ZEAL),
a Danish biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development
of innovative peptide drugs, today announces its preliminary revenue and end of
year cash position (both unaudited) for the year ended 31 December 2011, which
is in line with the financial guidance given for the revenue and other
operational income in the company’s interim report for Q3 2011 and most
recently confirmed in Company Announcement No. 31/2011 of 30 December, 2011. 



DKK (million)                          2011   2010
--------------------------------------------------
Revenue                               142.3   87.4
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Other operating income                 28.4    0.8
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Revenue plus other operating income   170.7   88.2
--------------------------------------------------
                                                  
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Cash and Securities (at end of year)  427.7  433.0
--------------------------------------------------



Zealand Pharma’s revenue plus other operating income increased in total by
93.5% in 2011 to DKK 170.7 (EUR 23.0) million from DKK 88.2 (EUR 11.9) million
in 2010.  The increase is mainly due to the agreement with Boehringer
Ingelheim, signed in June 2011, for the discovery, development and
commercialization of novel peptide based drugs to treat diabetes and obesity,
including ZP2929.  Further, in December 2011 Zealand Pharma received milestone
payments of DKK 22.3 (EUR 3.0) million from Helsinn Healthcare relating to the
development of elsiglutide, a Zealand Pharma invented peptide drug in
development for the treatment of chemotherapy induced diarrhea.  Helsinn
Healthcare is completing a Phase Ib study and preparing a Phase IIa study to
evaluate the efficacy of elsiglutide in the prevention of diarrhea in colon
cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. 

Of note, lixisenatide (Lyxumia®) was filed for registration in Europe in
November 2011 by Sanofi and is expected to be filed for registration in the US
in Q4 2012. 

As of 31 December 2011, Zealand Pharma had cash and cash equivalents including
securities of 

DKK 427.7 (EUR 57.5) million.  This corresponds to a similar cash position of
DKK 433.0 (EUR 58.2) million at the end of 2010. 



Commenting on today’s announcement, David Solomon, Chief Executive Officer and
President of Zealand Pharma, said: “2011 was a year of solid revenue growth for
Zealand Pharma.  Our revenue stream increased in 2011 due to excellent
collaborations with new as well as existing partners – including Sanofi who
filed our invented drug, lixisenatide (Lyxumia®), for registration in Europe in
November 2011.  Further, for the coming years our strong cash position allows
us to advance our own pipeline and apply Zealand Pharma’s world leading edge in
peptide drug innovation and development to other new and lucrative programs.” 



Financial guidance

Today’s preliminary results on revenue and other operational income for 2011
are in-line with the company’s financial guidance.  Financial guidance for 2012
will be given to the market on 15 March when Zealand Pharma announces its full
year audited results for 2011. 



                                      # # #



For further information, please contact:



David H. Solomon, President & CEO, Tel: +45 2220 6300



Hanne Leth Hillman, Vice President for IR & Corporate Communication,

Tel: +45 5060 3689, email: hlh@zealandpharma.com



About Zealand Pharma

Zealand Pharma A/S is a public (NASDAQ OMX: ZEAL) biopharmaceutical company
based in Copenhagen, Denmark with a mature and growing clinical pipeline of
innovative peptide based drugs. The company's lead product is lixisenatide
(Lyxumia® 1)), a once-daily GLP-1 agonist for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes,
invented by Zealand Pharma and licensed to Sanofi. In November, Sanofi
submitted a marketing authorization application (MAA) for lixisenatide
(Lyxumia®) in Europe. Regulatory submission of lixisenatide in the United
States is expected in Q4 2012. Zealand Pharma also has a collaboration with
Boehringer Ingelheim covering glucagon/GLP-1 dual agonists, including ZP2929
for the treatment of diabetes and obesity, and a license agreement with Helsinn
Healthcare on elsiglutide, a clinical stage GLP-2 drug for the treatment of
chemotherapy induced diarrhea. 

Zealand Pharma specializes in the discovery, optimization and development of
novel peptide drugs with favorable therapeutic attributes, and all drug
candidates in its pipeline have been identified through the company's own drug
discovery activities. Zealand Pharma's products target 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.



Note 1) Lyxumia® is the intended trademark for lixisenatide