Zealand Pharma has entered into a royalty purchase and sale agreement with Royalty Pharma plc 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 1 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 percent royalty on annual net global sales of rusfertide greater than USD 1.5 billion, while Royalty Pharma will retain a 0.75 percent royalty on sales above USD 1.5 billion.

Henriette Wennicke, Chief Financial Officer, Zealand Pharma, said, “We are very pleased to work with Royalty Pharma, a leading funder of life science innovation, on this strategic financial transaction. 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.”

The US Food and Drug Administration (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 commercialisation.

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.

Pablo Legorreta, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, Royalty Pharma, said, “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. 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 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.