Zealand Pharma shares fall as Boehringer Ingelheim partnership weight-loss drug shows modest 9.8% loss in Phase 3

Zealand Pharma and its partner Boehringer Ingelheim reported that their glucagon/GLP-1 dual agonist survodutide met the primary endpoints in the Phase 3 SYNCHRONIZE-2 trial, but the magnitude of weight loss was lower than expected.

The highest 6 mg dose produced up to a 9.8% reduction in body weight after 76 weeks, compared with a 13.1% figure cited in the company press release based on an efficacy estimand. A lower 3.6 mg dose led to an 8.2% loss, while participants on placebo lost 3.9%, a difference the companies said was statistically significant.

Despite the positive statistical outcome, investors reacted negatively and Zealand Pharma shares slipped in pre‑market trading, reflecting concerns that the drug’s performance may lag behind competing weight‑loss therapies.