Zealand Pharma Shares Up 7% on Alexion Collaboration

By Chris Wack

Shares of Zealand Pharma A/S (ZEAL) rose more than 7% to $17.33 after the company announced it was collaborating with Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN) to discover and develop novel peptide therapies for complement-mediated diseases.

The deal provides Alexion with exclusive worldwide licenses, as well as development and commercial rights, for up to four targets within the complement pathway.

Zealand will lead the joint discovery and research efforts through the preclinical stage, and Alexion will lead development efforts beginning with IND filing and Phase 1 studies.

Alexion gets exclusive worldwide licenses and commercial rights to the peptide therapies developed in the collaboration. Zealand will receive an immediate upfront payment of $25 million for the first target, with Alexion making a concurrent $15 million equity investment in Zealand Pharma at a premium to the market price as of the collaboration effective date.

Write to Chris Wack at chris.wack@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 20, 2019 12:40 ET (16:40 GMT)

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