The collaboration brings together OTR's proprietary R&D platform and deep connection with China's life science ecosystem, along with LG Chem's global development expertise and commercial infrastructure. Together, the companies will establish a partnership for discovering, evaluating, and advancing innovative oncology assets from China to patients worldwide.

Under this strategic framework, OTR will identify and conduct initial technical assessment of promising oncology programs aligned with LG Chem's strategic priorities through its regional scientific network and business development capabilities, followed by joint evaluation and licensing by both companies. OTR will lead preclinical and early clinical development by leveraging China's speed, scientific excellence, and capital-efficient R&D environment, while LG Chem will take a leading role in ex-China clinical development, regulatory strategy, and commercialization.

Under the terms of each program-specific agreement, OTR will receive upfront payments and be entitled to global development and regulatory milestone payments. In addition, OTR has the option to participate in global development and obtain a share of global rights of programs entering late-stage clinical development. Through this long-term partnership the companies aim to accelerate the translation of innovative science into globally competitive medicines while creating a sustainable pipeline of differentiated oncology therapies for patients with significant unmet medical needs.

Dr. Son Ji-woong, President of LG Chem Life Sciences Company, stated:

"This collaboration with OTR strengthens our ability to systematically identify and evaluate promising assets emerging from China, which is becoming an emerging center of biopharmaceutical innovation. By securing high-potential assets at an early stage and advancing them jointly with our partner through future development opportunities, we aim to enhance our global competitiveness and improve patient access to innovative treatments."

Dr. Zhui Chen, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of OTR Therapeutics, commented:

"We are very delighted to collaborate with LG Chem to unlock the immense innovation potential residing within the Chinese biopharma ecosystem. By combining our agile R&D and business development capability with LG Chem's robust clinical and commercial infrastructure, we are creating an accelerated pathway to transform early-stage breakthroughs into highly differentiated, clinically impactful therapies for patients worldwide."

About OTR Therapeutics

OTR Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to transforming early-stage innovations into globally impactful therapies for critical diseases with high unmet medical needs. With a strategic focus on oncology, immunology and inflammation, and cardiometabolic diseases, we discover and acquire distinctive assets in preclinical and early clinical stages, and accelerate their development into differentiated, clinically impactful treatments through our R&D hub built for speed, quality and efficiency. By combining scientific rigor with agile partnerships, we deliver exceptional value to our partners and patients worldwide. From our advanced R&D center in Shanghai's Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, we actively collaborate with a global network of partners across the US, Europe, and Asia. www.otr-tx.com

About LG Chem. and LG Chem Life Sciences

LG Chem is a leading global chemical company with a diversified business portfolio spanning across petrochemicals, advanced materials, and life sciences. LG Chem Life Sciences, the life sciences business division of LG Chem, is dedicated to developing and delivering innovative medicines across a broad range of therapeutic areas. Guided by its mission to transform people's lives through inspiring science and leading innovation, LG Chem Life Sciences is offering differentiated solutions to its customers. For more information, please visit www.lgchem.com

SHANGHAI, Dec. 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- OTR Therapeutics, a biotechnology company dedicated to transforming early-stage innovations into globally impactful therapies for unmet medical needs, and Zealand Pharma A/S (Nasdaq: ZEAL), a biotechnology company transforming the future of metabolic health, today announce a multi-program strategic collaboration and license agreement to discover and develop novel therapeutics for metabolic diseases.

The collaboration brings together Zealand Pharma's deep expertise in obesity and metabolic health with OTR Therapeutics' proprietary R&D platform, scientific rigor, and unique strengths in speed, efficiency, and quality - supported by strong ties to regional R&D networks - to develop transformative treatment options for millions of people living with metabolic diseases. By pursuing next-generation therapeutics, we will meaningfully expand treatment options.

"We are excited to partner with OTR Therapeutics. The multi-program collaboration will expand our metabolic health pipeline into oral small-molecule therapeutics for targets where we have deep biological expertise, complementing our strong peptide R&D platform," said Utpal Singh, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Zealand Pharma. "This partnership is an early testament - with more to follow - to the execution of our updated strategy to further strengthen and evolve our platform, broadening treatment options for people living with overweight, obesity, and other metabolic diseases. We are confident the partnership with OTR Therapeutics will be highly productive in achieving our shared goal of expanding treatment options for people living with metabolic diseases."

"We are thrilled to partner with Zealand Pharma, a company renowned for its legacy and expertise in metabolic diseases," said Zhui Chen, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer of OTR Therapeutics. "This collaboration represents a strong endorsement of our proprietary platform and strategic vision, and our proven ability to drive innovation and deliver quality and speed in execution. By combining our strengths in innovative drug discovery and development with Zealand Pharma's deep expertise in the disease area, we are well positioned to discover potentially transformative therapies for patients worldwide."

Terms of the agreement
Under the terms of the agreement, OTR Therapeutics and Zealand Pharma will co-discover and co-develop innovative therapies for multiple targets in metabolic diseases. OTR Therapeutics will leverage its proprietary discovery platform to lead and conduct research and preclinical development. Zealand Pharma will assume responsibility for clinical development, regulatory submissions, and commercialization worldwide.

OTR Therapeutics will receive an initial upfront payment of USD 20 million, which may increase to USD 30 million under certain pre-agreed conditions, and is eligible for potential pre-specified preclinical, development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments. The potential total consideration is up to USD ~2.5 billion, with the majority representing commercial milestones. OTR Therapeutics is also eligible to receive tiered single-digit royalties on worldwide net sales of any commercialized products resulting from the collaboration.

About Zealand Pharma A/S
Zealand Pharma A/S (Nasdaq: ZEAL) is a biotechnology company focused on advancing medicines for obesity and metabolic health. Combining more than 25 years of peptide R&D expertise with a proprietary data platform that leverages advanced data‑driven and AI/ML approaches, Zealand Pharma aims to lead a new era in obesity and metabolic health.

To date, more than ten Zealand Pharma‑invented drug candidates have entered clinical development, of which two products have reached the market and three candidates are in late-stage development. The Company has collaborations with global pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners for research, development, and commercialization.

Founded in 1998, Zealand Pharma is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with a U.S. presence in Boston, Massachusetts. Learn more at www.zealandpharma.com.

About OTR Therapeutics
OTR Therapeutics, launched in March 2025, is a biotechnology company dedicated to transforming early-stage innovations into globally impactful therapies for critical diseases with high unmet medical needs. With a strategic focus on oncology, immunology and inflammation, and cardiometabolic diseases, we discover and acquire distinctive assets in preclinical and early clinical stages, and accelerate their development into differentiated, clinically impactful treatments through our R&D hub built for speed, quality and efficiency. By combining scientific rigor with agile partnerships, we deliver exceptional value to our partners and patients worldwide. From our advanced R&D center in Shanghai's Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, we actively collaborate with a network of global partners across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. For more information about OTR Therapeutics, please visit www.otr-tx.com.

Founded in March 2025, OTR Therapeutics is establishing a novel, scalable, and capital-efficient model that synergizes internal R&D with strategic curation of high-potential external innovation. This integrated approach enables the company to focus on scientific rigor and operational agility, leveraging its deep regional insights and the development efficiency of the local ecosystem to accelerate innovative therapies to patients worldwide.

The proceeds of the financing will advance OTR's pipeline of differentiated programs that target significant treatment gaps in immunology & inflammation, oncology, and other disease areas. The funds will also expand OTR's R&D hub capability, which emphasizes both scientific excellence and strategic partnership agility to foster expedited development of high-impact therapies.

In line with its strategy, OTR also announced the acquisition of a preclinical program with best-in-class potential for neurological diseases with high unmet needs. This acquisition is part of the company's strategic and ongoing efforts to identify and advance promising early-stage assets into global clinical development, alongside its internal proprietary discovery programs to address a broader range of critical patient needs.

"The rapidly evolving global pharmaceutical R&D landscape demands greater novelty, speed and efficiency," said Dr. Zhui Chen, Founder and CEO of OTR Therapeutics. "At OTR, we aim to build a next-generation biotech model that delivers unprecedented R&D and capital efficiency. It enables us to stay agile while remaining rigorously focused on propelling novel, differentiated drug candidates through global clinical translation in a disciplined and efficient manner. We are grateful for the strong support from our investors and their confidence in our vision and capability to deliver transformative therapies for patients."

Co-founded by Zhui Chen, Ph.D., Shannon Chuai, Ph.D., and Yuan Shi, Ph.D., OTR Therapeutics is led by a team of seasoned drug hunters and entrepreneurs in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries with a proven track record of delivering breakthrough innovation, operational excellence, and financial success.

Yi Shi, Managing Director, LAV: "We believe the biopharma industry is shifting towards more capital-efficient and specialized R&D models. OTR Therapeutics is at the forefront of this evolution, demonstrating how a focused, integrated framework can expedite the journey of translating early-stage innovation into global clinical development."

Michael Baran, Partner, Pfizer Ventures: "Pfizer Ventures identifies and invests in emerging companies who are developing innovative medicines and technologies that have the potential to shape the future of our industry. To this end, we're pleased to be able to support OTR Therapeutics as it scales its R&D capabilities and builds a portfolio of potentially transformative therapies."

About True Light
True Light (Shanghai) Private Equity invests in innovative, high-growth businesses in Greater China. It is a subsidiary of True Light Capital and is registered with the Asset Management Association of China. True Light Capital is an asset manager headquartered in Singapore and currently has assets under management of ~US$4b from global investors. It manages funds that are focused on investing in high-quality investment opportunities which have a nexus to or have a major business relationship with Greater China. True Light Capital and True Light (Shanghai) Private Equity are independent, wholly-owned subsidiaries of Temasek (www.temasek.com.sg). For more information on True Light, please visit: www.truelightcap.com.

About OTR Therapeutics
OTR Therapeutics is a biotechnology company dedicated to transforming early-stage innovations into globally impactful therapies for critical diseases with high unmet medical needs. With a strategic focus on oncology, immunology and inflammation, and cardiometabolic diseases, we discover and acquire distinctive assets in preclinical and early clinical stages, and accelerate their development into differentiated, clinically impactful treatments through our R&D hub built for speed, quality and efficiency. By combining scientific rigor with agile partnerships, we deliver exceptional value to our partners and patients worldwide. From our advanced R&D center in Shanghai's Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, we actively collaborate with a global network of partners across the US, Europe, and Asia. www.otr-tx.com