Zealand Pharma adds $5 million equity investment in Beta Bionics

Copenhagen-based biotechnology company Zealand Pharma focused on peptide-based drugs,has completed a $5 million equity investment in Beta Bionics, a medical technology company developing the iLet bionic pancreas system.

Zealand said Friday that the it gains access to iLet, a pocket-sized, dual-chamber, autonomous, glycemic control system that mimics a biological pancreas by calculating and dosing insulin and/or glucagon as needed based on data from the diabetic patient’s continuous glucose monitor. Zealand said that the iLet will utilize its proprietary stable glucagon analogue, dasiglucagon, in combination with insulin. This dual hormone therapy has the potential to significantly improve diabetes management for people who today are on insulin therapy, the company said.

As a background to the new investment, Zealand noted that in 2017, it made an initial $1.5 million equity investment in Beta Bionics with an option to invest a further $3.5 million triggered by the achievement of specific development milestones. Zealand has now exercised this option based on the significant regulatory and clinical progress seen throughout 2018. Zealand Pharma and Beta Bionics will now be moving forward with the Phase 3 program for iLet in 2019.

“We look forward to starting the pivotal phase 3 development program in the second half of 2019,” said Adam Steensberg, Chief Medical and Development Officer at Zealand. He said that Zealand’s proprietary stable glucagon analogue, dasiglucagon, has great potential to dramatically improve Type 1 diabetes patient care and outcomes when used in cutting edge dual-hormone artificial pancreas pumps like the iLet.

Ed Damiano, President and Chief Executive Officer at Beta Bionics, said: “Our enduring commitment at Beta Bionics is to bring the dual-hormone iLet to market to improve the lives of as many people with type 1 diabetes as possible. We are very excited by the impressive results achieved with dasiglucagon in pre-clinical studies and clinical trials. We look forward to beginning our phase 3 pivotal trial program with the talented team at Zealand Pharma.”