Roche has increased its bet on the fight against obesity, agreeing to pay Zealand Pharma $1.65 billion for the license of an experimental vaccine that the Danish company sent into a Phase 2b study in December, Zealand announced on Wednesday.
Under the terms of the agreement, Roche will pay $1.4 billion upfront and $250 million in anniversary payments for the license of petrelintide. With further milestone payments, Zealand could receive up to $5.3 billion.
Roche and Zealand will jointly market the vaccine in the US and Europe, sharing any profits and losses.
