Zealand Pharma enters into a USD 100 million royalty purchase and sale agreement with Royalty Pharma for the economics related to rusfertide
Company announcement – No. 38 / 2026
Zealand Pharma enters into a USD 100 million royalty purchase and sale agreement with Royalty Pharma for the economics related to rusfertide
- Zealand Pharma will receive USD 100 million for the sale of its economic interests related to rusfertide, including royalty rights on the potential future global net sales of rusfertide.
- The agreement unlocks value from a non-core royalty entitlement for redeployment to Zealand Pharma’s key strategic priorities.
Copenhagen, Denmark, August 12, 2026 – Zealand Pharma A/S (Nasdaq: ZEAL) (CVR-no. 20045078), a biotechnology company transforming the future of metabolic health, today announces that it has entered into a royalty purchase and sale agreement with Royalty Pharma plc (Nasdaq: RPRX) in exchange for Zealand Pharma’s economics related to rusfertide (PTG-300), a potential first-in-class therapy for polycythemia vera, a rare and chronic blood disorder.
Under the terms of the royalty purchase and sale agreement, Zealand Pharma will receive USD 100 million for the sale of its economic interests related to rusfertide, including rights to one percent royalty on potential future global net sales of rusfertide and regulatory and commercial milestones. Of the USD 100 million, Zealand Pharma will receive an upfront payment of USD 50 million upon closing of the transaction. The remaining USD 50 million is due upon the first anniversary of the closing of the agreement. Zealand Pharma will retain the right to a 0.25% royalty on annual net global sales of rusfertide greater than USD 1.5 billion, while Royalty Pharma will retain a 0.75% royalty on sales above USD 1.5 billion.
“We are very pleased to work with Royalty Pharma, a leading funder of life science innovation, on this strategic financial transaction,” said Henriette Wennicke, Chief Financial Officer at Zealand Pharma. “This agreement converts a future potential royalty stream into immediate capital that will be redeployed against future growth opportunities in line with our key strategic priorities under our Metabolic Frontier 2030 strategy.”
“We are delighted to expand our relationship with Zealand Pharma through a second collaboration, supporting the company as it continues to advance its innovative pipeline of medicines for obesity and metabolic health,” said Pablo Legorreta, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Royalty Pharma. “This transaction underscores Royalty Pharma’s role as a long-term, trusted partner to biopharma companies as they advance important medicines. Furthermore, we believe rusfertide has the potential to become a transformative treatment option for patients with polycythemia vera, and we look forward to its continued progress through regulatory review.”
The U.S. FDA has set a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date for the New Drug Application (NDA) for rusfertide for the treatment of adults with polycythemia vera in the third quarter of 2026 and Takeda will be responsible for global commercialization1.
In June 2012, Zealand Pharma and Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc., entered into a research collaboration agreement to develop disulfide-rich peptides (DRPs). Under the agreement, Zealand Pharma was responsible for preclinical and clinical drug development of DRPs discovered under the collaboration. The research collaboration was terminated in 2014 and Protagonist’s payment obligations to Zealand Pharma were clarified in a settlement agreement reached in 2021. In January 2024, Protagonist and Takeda entered into a worldwide license and collaboration agreement for rusfertide.
The purchase and sale agreement closed today, August 12, 2026.
Goodwin acted as legal advisor to Zealand Pharma. Covington, Dechert, Jones Day and Kromann acted as legal advisors to Royalty Pharma.
About rusfertide1
Rusfertide is a first-in-class investigational subcutaneous treatment that mimics the action of hepcidin, a natural hormone that regulates iron homeostasis and red blood cell production. By targeting the underlying mechanism of iron dysregulation in polycythemia vera, rusfertide aims to reduce excess red blood cell production and help patients achieve sustained hematocrit control. Rusfertide is administered once weekly via subcutaneous self-injection and has been generally well-tolerated in clinical trials to date.
About Zealand Pharma
Zealand Pharma A/S (Nasdaq: ZEAL) is a biotechnology company focused on advancing medicines for obesity and metabolic health. Combining more than 25 years of peptide R&D expertise with a proprietary data platform that leverages advanced data driven and AI/ML approaches, Zealand Pharma aims to lead a new era in obesity and metabolic health.
To date, more than ten Zealand Pharma invented drug candidates have entered clinical development, of which two products have reached the market and three candidates are in late-stage development. The Company has collaborations with global pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners for research, development, and commercialization.
Founded in 1998, Zealand Pharma is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with a U.S. presence in Boston, Massachusetts. Learn more at www.zealandpharma.com.
About Royalty Pharma plc
Founded in 1996, Royalty Pharma is the largest buyer of biopharmaceutical royalties and a leading funder of innovation across the biopharmaceutical industry, collaborating with innovators from academic institutions, research hospitals and non-profits through small and mid-cap biotechnology companies to leading global pharmaceutical companies. Royalty Pharma has assembled a portfolio of royalties which entitles it to payments based directly on the top-line sales of many of the industry’s leading therapies. Royalty Pharma funds innovation in the biopharmaceutical industry both directly and indirectly – directly when it partners with companies to co fund late-stage clinical trials and new product launches in exchange for future royalties, and indirectly when it acquires existing royalties from the original innovators. Royalty Pharma’s current portfolio includes royalties on more than 35 commercial products, including Vertex’s Trikafta and Alyftrek, GSK’s Trelegy, Roche’s Evrysdi, Johnson & Johnson’s Tremfya, Biogen’s Tysabri and Spinraza, Servier’s Voranigo, AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson’s Imbruvica, Astellas and Pfizer’s Xtandi, Pfizer’s Nurtec ODT, and Gilead’s Trodelvy, and 20 development-stage product candidates. For more information, visit www.royaltypharma.com.
Forward looking statements
This company announcement contains “forward-looking statements”, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 in the United States, as amended, even though no longer listed in the United States this is used as a definition to provide Zealand Pharma’s expectations or forecasts of future events regarding the research, development, and commercialization of pharmaceutical products, the timing of the company’s clinical trials and the reporting of data therefrom and the company’s significant events and potential catalysts in 2026 and financial guidance for 2026. These forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “goal,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “will,” “would”, and other words and terms of similar meaning. You should not place undue reliance on these statements, or the scientific data presented. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and inaccurate assumptions, which may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations set forth herein and may cause any or all of such forward-looking statements to be incorrect, and which include, but are not limited to, unexpected costs or delays in clinical trials and other development activities due to adverse safety events or otherwise; unexpected concerns that may arise from additional data, analysis or results obtained during clinical trials; our ability to successfully market both new and existing products; changes in reimbursement rules and governmental laws and related interpretation thereof; government-mandated or market-driven price decreases for our products; introduction of competing products; production problems; unexpected growth in costs and expenses; our ability to effect the strategic reorganization of our businesses in the manner planned; failure to protect and enforce our data, intellectual property and other proprietary rights and uncertainties relating to intellectual property claims and challenges; regulatory authorities may require additional information or further studies, or may reject, fail to approve or may delay approval of our drug candidates or expansion of product labelling; failure to obtain regulatory approvals in other jurisdictions; exposure to product liability and other claims; interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; unexpected contract breaches or terminations; inflationary pressures on the global economy; and political uncertainty. If any or all of such forward-looking statements prove to be incorrect, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied by such statements. The foregoing sets forth many, but not all, of the factors that could cause actual results to differ from our expectations in any forward-looking statement. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release/company announcement and are based on information available to Zealand Pharma as of the date of this release/announcement. We do not undertake to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof. Information concerning pharmaceuticals (including compounds under development) contained within this material is not intended as advertising or medical advice.
Zealand Pharma® is a registered trademark of Zealand Pharma A/S.
Contacts
Eric Rojas (Investors)
Vice President, Head of Investor Relations
Zealand Pharma
Email: erojas@zealandpharma.com
Neshat Anis Ahmadi (Investors)
Investor Relations Manager
Zealand Pharma
Email: neahmadi@zealandpharma.com
Rachel James-Owens (Media)
Vice President, Corporate Communications & Media Relations
Zealand Pharma
Email: rjamesowens@zealandpharma.com
Andreas Hylleberg Mølleskov (Media)
Director, External Communications
Zealand Pharma
Email: ahylleberg@zealandpharma.com
References
1. Takeda and Protagonist Announce U.S. Food and Drug Administration Accepts New Drug Application and Grants Priority Review for Rusfertide as a Potential First-in-Class Therapy for Polycythemia Vera. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. FDA Accepts NDA and Grants Priority Review for Rusfertide. Last accessed August 2026.
