Zealand Pharma continues to strengthen strategic leadership of innovation in obesity and related conditions with appointment of Steven Johnson as Chief Development Officer
Press release – No. 9 / 2025
Zealand Pharma continues to strengthen strategic leadership of innovation in obesity and related conditions with appointment of Steven Johnson as Chief Development Officer
- Steven will lead the regulatory and development strategies that position Zealand Pharma at the forefront of innovation in the management of obesity and other related complications
- He joins CMO David Kendall and recently appointed CSO Utpal Singh to strengthen Zealand Pharma’s R&D leadership and progress its differentiated clinical pipeline of potential best-in-class peptide therapeutics
Copenhagen, Denmark, May 19, 2025 – Zealand Pharma A/S (Nasdaq: ZEAL) (CVR-no. 20045078), a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of innovative peptide-based medicines, today announces the appointment of Steven Johnson as Chief Development Officer. Steven will join the executive team to lead regulatory and development strategies at Zealand Pharma. His appointment, alongside Chief Medical Officer, David Kendall and recently appointed Chief Scientific Officer, Utpal Singh further strengthens the company’s strategy to lead the field in innovation in the management of obesity and other related conditions.
Steven brings nearly 30 years of experience driving drug development and regulatory strategy across the pharmaceutical industry. He joins Zealand Pharma from UCB Biopharma, where he most recently served as Senior Vice President and Head of Regulatory Stakeholders, responsible for leading late phase clinical development, global regulatory affairs, biometrics and operational excellence. During Steven’s tenure at UCB, his teams secured global approvals for key therapies across multiple therapeutic areas. Previously he had senior leadership roles at Medpace, Inc. and at Novo Nordisk. Steven began his career at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, where he served as a Master Reviewer in the Division of Metabolic and Endocrine Drug Products.
“Steven brings a unique 360-degree perspective on global drug development gained from a career at major pharma companies, CROs and the FDA,” said Adam Steensberg, Chief Executive Officer, Zealand Pharma. “He joins Zealand at a key moment as we embark on the collaboration with Roche to co-develop and co-commercialize petrelintide as a foundational therapy for people with overweight and obesity. Together, Utpal, Steven and David form a robust, seamless leadership team across research, development and medical affairs as we strive to become a leader in the management of obesity and related complications.”
Steven Johnson added, “Zealand Pharma is committed to delivering transformative therapies that are created with the patient 's experience in mind to support long-term health outcomes. I’m excited to work alongside this exceptional team aligning human centered innovation with world class science to develop new therapies that could redefine the standard of care for obesity and more.”
Steven was a Geriatrics Fellow at Washington State University and holds a PharmD, a BPharm, and a BS in Biology, also from Washington State University.
About Zealand Pharma A/S
Zealand Pharma A/S (Nasdaq: ZEAL) is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of peptide-based medicines. More than 10 drug candidates invented by Zealand Pharma have advanced into clinical development, of which two have reached the market and three candidates are in late-stage development. The company has development partnerships with a number of pharma companies as well as commercial partnerships for its marketed products.
Zealand Pharma was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with a team in the U.S. For more information about Zealand Pharma’s business and activities, please visit www.zealandpharma.com.
Forward looking statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements”, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 in the United States, as amended, even though no longer listed in the United States this is used as a definition to provide Zealand Pharma’s expectations or forecasts of future events regarding the research, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products, the timing of the company’s pre-clinical and clinical trials and the reporting of data therefrom. These forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “goal,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “will,” “would” and other words and terms of similar meaning. You should not place undue reliance on these statements, or the scientific data presented. The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and inaccurate assumptions, which may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations set forth herein and may cause any or all of such forward-looking statements to be incorrect, and which include, but are not limited to, unexpected costs or delays in clinical trials and other development activities due to adverse safety events, patient recruitment or otherwise; unexpected concerns that may arise from additional data, analysis or results obtained during clinical trials; our ability to successfully market both new and existing products; changes in reimbursement rules and governmental laws and related interpretation thereof; government-mandated or market-driven price decreases for our products; introduction of competing products; production problems at third party manufacturers; dependency on third parties, for instance contract research or development organizations; unexpected growth in costs and expenses; our ability to affect the strategic reorganization of our businesses in the manner planned; failure to protect and enforce our data, intellectual property and other proprietary rights and uncertainties relating to intellectual property claims and challenges; regulatory authorities may require additional information or further studies, or may reject, fail to approve or may delay approval of our drug candidates or expansion of product labeling; failure to obtain regulatory approvals in other jurisdictions; exposure to product liability and other claims; interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; unexpected contract breaches or terminations; inflationary pressures on the global economy; and political uncertainty. If any or all of such forward-looking statements prove to be incorrect, our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied by such statements. The foregoing sets forth many, but not all, of the factors that could cause actual results to differ from our expectations in any forward-looking statement. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this company announcement and are based on information available to Zealand Pharma as of the date of this announcement. We do not undertake to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date hereof. Information concerning pharmaceuticals (including compounds under development) contained within this material is not intended as advertising or medical advice.
Contacts
Adam Lange (Investors)
Vice President, Investor Relations
alange@zealandpharma.com
Neshat Ahmadi (Investors)
Investor Relations Manager
neahmadi@zealandpharma.com
Anna Krassowska, PhD (Investor and Media)
Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
akrassowska@zealandpharma.com
Amber Fennell, Jessica Hodgson, Sean Leous (Media)
ICR Healthcare
ZealandPharma@icrhealthcare.com
+44 (0) 7739 658 783
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