Zealand Pharma (ZEAL) Q4 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• 2025 marked a breakthrough year with a landmark Roche partnership for petrelintide and significant progress in the obesity and metabolic health pipeline, while 2026 is positioned as a catalyst-rich year with multiple clinical milestones and regulatory submissions expected, particularly in obesity and rare disease programs.

• Strategic partnerships with Roche and Boehringer Ingelheim drive co-development and commercialization of key assets in obesity and metabolic health.

• The company aims to advance over 10 candidates into the clinic within five years, leveraging AI and proprietary data, and targets five product launches in five years.

Financial highlights

• Full-year 2025 revenue reached DKK 9.2 billion, primarily from an upfront payment under the Roche collaboration, with operating profit of DKK 7.0 billion before tax.

• Net profit for 2025 was DKK 6.5 billion, reversing a net loss of DKK 1.1 billion in 2024.

• Net operating expenses were DKK 2.1 billion, with 76% allocated to R&D.

• Year-end cash position stood at DKK 15.1 billion, a 13x rise since 2022, bolstered by the Roche payment.

Outlook and guidance

• 2026 net operating expenses are guided at DKK 2.7–3.3 billion, mainly for R&D and clinical advancement, up from DKK 2.1 billion in 2025.

• Potential milestone payments from Roche in 2026 could total $700 million, contingent on Phase III program initiation, with anticipated royalty streams from survodutide starting 2027/28.

• Multiple key clinical readouts and regulatory submissions are expected in 2026, including Phase II data for petrelintide and Phase III data for survodutide.

• Continued investment in research and expansion of the metabolic health pipeline is planned.