Zealand Pharma’s petrelintide shows 9% weight loss in Phase 2 but fails to improve blood sugar, analysts unimpressed

Zealand Pharma, in partnership with Roche, reported results from the Phase 2 ZUPREME-2 trial of petrelintide, a long‑acting human amylin analog, in 220 obese or overweight patients with type 2 diabetes.

At week 28, participants receiving petrelintide lost an average of up to 9.2% of body weight, compared with a 2% loss in the placebo group, allowing the study to meet its primary weight‑loss endpoint.

However, the same data showed only modest changes in blood‑sugar levels, which analysts described as underwhelming and insufficient for a diabetes benefit.

William Blair analysts called the weight‑loss effect “intriguing” but noted the lack of glycaemic improvement dampened enthusiasm, marking the second mixed readout from Zealand’s pipeline in a week.