Zealand Pharma and Generate Biomedicines strike AI drug deal

Zealand Pharma A/S (Nasdaq: ZEAL) and Generate Biomedicines Inc. (Nasdaq: GENB) announced a collaboration and license agreement on October 13, 2026, to develop multispecific protein therapeutics for obesity and other metabolic diseases using artificial intelligence.

Under the terms of the agreement, Generate will use its generative AI platform to lead research through lead-candidate selection for two initial programs, with an option to add a third. Zealand Pharma will take on responsibility for clinical development, regulatory submissions, and worldwide commercialization.

Generate will receive $30 million up-front and up to $35 million in early preclinical milestones. The company is also eligible for total milestones of nearly $1.2 billion, including potential development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, plus tiered royalties on future worldwide net sales of any commercialized products.

Utpal Singh, Chief Scientific Officer at Zealand Pharma, said the collaboration "expands our toolbox to include proteins, complementing our existing small-molecule and peptide capabilities and opening new approaches for polypharmacology for innovative therapeutics."

Mike Nally, chief executive officer of Generate, said the partnership aims to "address the continued unmet medical need for patients with cardiometabolic disease" by combining Zealand Pharma's metabolic disease expertise with Generate's computational platform.

Zealand Pharma is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with a U.S. presence in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Generate is a clinical-stage company founded in 2018. Cooley LLP advised Zealand Pharma and Ropes & Gray LLP advised Generate on the transaction.

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