Zealand Pharma Appoints New Chief Executive Officer

GLOSTRUP, DENMARK--(MARKET WIRE)--Aug 28, 2008 --Today Zealand Pharma announced that Dr. David H Solomon has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. "We are delighted to have David as the new Chief Executive Officer. He brings more than 20 years of experience in medical research, healthcare investing and key biopharmaceutical and medical device operating roles," said Dr. Daan Ellens, Chairman of Zealand Pharma A/S. "His senior management experience, commercial and clinical development knowledge and investing background will be extremely valuable to the organization as the company moves forward."

Dr. Solomon has extensive experience in pharmacology research, having served as a faculty member at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, NY as well as leadership positions at several biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device companies, including Remedy Pharmaceuticals and Critical Diagnostics, both in New York. From 2003-2006, Dr. Solomon led healthcare investing at Carrot Capital Healthcare Ventures. Most recently, Dr. Solomon served as Chief Operating Officer of Vital Sensors, Inc. Dr. Solomon studied medicine and received his doctorate at Cornell University Medical College and the Sloan-Kettering division of its Graduate School of Medical Sciences, in New York City.

Dr. Solomon succeeds Interim CEO Mogens Vang Rasmussen who will continue in his role as CFO.

"I'm very excited about the future for Zealand Pharma," said Dr. Solomon. "We have a rapidly developing pipeline, strong, maturing partnerships and an entrepreneurial spirit and commitment at the company. I look forward to contributing to the company's growth and success in the upcoming years"

Zealand's most advanced project, AVE0010/ZP10, for the normalization of elevated blood sugar in type 2 diabetics has been out licensed to Sanofi-Aventis. In September 2007 Sanofi-Aventis published promising results from a double blind, placebo-controlled Phase IIb study. Phase III clinical studies commenced in May 2008 and submission of IND/MAA is expected to be filed in 2010.

Further information

Zealand Pharma A/S, Smedeland 36, DK-2600 Glostrup, Denmark T: +45 4328 1200 F: +45 4328 1212 E: info@zp.dk http://www.zp.com

About Zealand Pharma

Zealand Pharma is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative peptide-based drugs. Zealand is one of the leaders within the peptide area, a growing market with significant drug development activities including treatment of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. All of Zealand's products target diseases and symptoms of significant unmet clinical need and commercial potential.

Since 1999, Zealand's scientists have built a pipeline that includes five compounds in clinical development, two of which have been out licensed to major pharmaceutical companies (Wyeth and Sanofi-Aventis). All Zealand's compounds emerge from Zealand's own drug discovery.

* AVE0010/ZP10, a pharmaceutical agent for the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes, has been out-licensed to Sanofi-Aventis, which is the worlds third largest pharmaceutical corporation with a strong diabetes franchise.

* ZP120 is an ORL-1 receptor agonist. Zealand has all the rights to the drug, which is currently in Phase II clinical development.

* GAP-134/ZP1609; a gap junction modifier that prevents both ventricular and atrial arrhythmias in animal models. With its oral formulation, the molecule represents a novel paradigm for the potential chronic prevention of cardiac arrhythmias. US based pharmaceutical giant Wyeth Pharmaceutical is currently conducting Phase I trials in the US.

* ZP1846 is an innovative treatment for prevention of chemotherapy-induced diarrhea, which may prevent discontinuation and dose modification during cancer chemotherapy. Zealand has all the rights to the drug, and the Company has finalized clinical Phase I trials in the US.

* ZP1848 is a novel paradigm for the treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (e.g. Crohn's Disease). The compound is in late preclinical development.

In addition, Zealand has a rich and broad portfolio of pre-clinical projects targeting a variety of disease areas, including osteoporosis and obesity-related diabetes.

Zealand Pharma is based in Copenhagen and has approximately 65 employees.

The Company's investors include BankInvest Biomedical Venture, LD Pensions, Dansk Erhvervsinvestering and Sunstone Capital as well as the leading international biotech investors CDC Innovation and AGF Private Equity (both in Paris) and LSP (Amsterdam).

Copyright © Hugin AS 2008. All rights reserved.

Contact: Source: Zealand Pharma

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