Zealand Pharma out-licenses diabetes peptide platform to US biotech Elvinix
Zealand Pharma has signed an exclusive license agreement with newly formed US biopharmaceutical company Elvinix, granting the rights to develop and commercialize a GLP-1/gastrin dual-agonist peptide portfolio as a regenerative therapy for type 1 diabetes.
The Copenhagen-based peptide specialist is handing off a dual-agonist platform, along with the underlying patent families and an extensive package of preclinical data, giving Elvinix a foundation to take the program toward clinical development.
Elvinix plans to advance the licensed peptides as a disease-modifying treatment designed to regenerate and protect the insulin-producing beta cells lost in type 1 diabetes (T1D). Restoring insulin secretion in people with T1D could decrease the risk of hypoglycemia and diabetic complications and reduce the burden of insulin therapy, the company says. An estimated 9.5 million people worldwide live with T1D, a number that rises each year.
“This license gives us a peptide platform backed by years of rigorous preclinical work, freeing us to focus on what matters most: advancing a potentially first-in-class, disease-modifying therapy for type 1 diabetes,” says Daniil Koshelev, CEO of Elvinix. “Patients have waited a long time for treatments that can change the course of this disease, and this is a meaningful step toward delivering one.”
Published: September 15, 2026
