ZEALAND IN CLINICAL TRIALS WITH AQUARETIC COMPOUND

Zealand Pharmaceuticals A/S has initiated clinical trials with a new compound with aquaretic effect. The compound, ZP120, will potentially improve the treatment of patients with acutely decompensated heart failure (ADHF), who suffer from accumulation of body fluid.

In animal experiments of heart failure, ZP120 induces a well-controlled diuresis (excretion of water from the body). However, compared with classical diuretics, ZP120 reduces loss of sodium and potassium (electrolytes). If this is confirmed in clinical trials, it will provide a significant advantage over existing treatment, which often results in disturbances of critical electrolyte balance and uncontrolled loss of fluid.

The phase I trial is conducted at a clinical center in the USA. The trial is primarily a safety and tolerability study, but the aquaretic effect will also be measured.

In the US, the annual number of hospitalisations due to ADHF amount to more than one million.

Zealand is a privately owned biopharmaceutical company based in Copenhagen, Denmark. The company was founded in 1998 and has currently three programmes in pre-clinical/clinical development, including ZP120. The company's lead compound, a GLP-1 analogue for type II diabetes, is currently in a phase I/IIA trial. Zealand has a proprietary biological platform for drug discovery, i.e. modulation of inter-cellular communication through gap junctions.

For further information please contact:

Eva Steiness,
President and CEO,
Zealand Pharma
Phone: +45 4328 1210
Email: est@zp.dk