Day 1: Wednesday, September 23Wednesday, 23 September 2026

• Reviewing the unprecedented growth of the obesity therapeutics market, as obesity is recognized a complex chronic disease.

• Exploring the evolving benchmarks for optimal percentage-weight loss in patients in obesity therapeutic trials and discussing expectations for the future

• Highlighting critical challenges such as weight maintenance, patient adherence, and the preservation of lean mass, while reviewing the leading modalities and emerging targets that prioritize sustainable health outcomes over rapid weight loss

• Understanding the essential qualities and strategies that pharma and investors prioritize when evaluating partnerships

• Reviewing recent examples of impactful collaborations to uncover what drives mutual value and long-term success

• This session examines the operational realities of one of the busiest areas of drug development. As obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, MASLD and GLP-1-related pipelines continue to expand, early-phase trial execution is under increasing pressure. Two case studies are used to examine how data-driven recruitment and hands-on participant engagement can help sponsors navigate the rising complexity of early-phase cardiometabolic trials.

• Exploring siRNA-based therapies to enhance brown fat activation and energy expenditure for effective and sustainable weight loss.

• Addressing rare paediatric obesity through innovative approaches targeting the endocannabinoid system and metabolic pathways.

• Examination of a novel small interfering RNA (siRNA) platform designed to coordinately modulate interconnected gene regulatory networks implicated in metabolic homeostasis, adipogenesis, and insulin signaling pathways dysregulated in obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D).

-INHBE and ACVR1C encode a ligand-receptor pair in the TGF-beta superfamily

-Human genetic loss-of-function of either gene is associated with reduced waist-to-hip ratio and improvements in other cardiometabolic traits

-Preclinical obesity models support the role of siRNAs targeting these members of the activin pathway can enhance total weight loss, weight loss quality, and prevent weight regain

• Large Human Obesity Cohort: Integrates multi-tissue samples (liver, adipose, muscle, intestine) with rich clinical data from 2,000 bariatric surgery patients

• High-Resolution Discovery: Applies bulk, single-cell, single-nuclei, and spatial omics to uncover novel, human-validated therapeutic targets

• Patient Stratification: Enables molecular patient segmentation to identify specific obesity endotypes and mechanistic drivers

• From discovery to clinic: how Zealand Pharma's peptide platform is evolving in speed, scale, and ambition
• Pipeline, partnerships, and a new presence in Boston — where Zealand Pharma is headed and why

• NA-931 is an orally administered small molecule and a quadruple receptor agonist targeting insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), and glucagon receptors. It represents a first-in-class therapeutic approach.
• Topline results from this Phase 2 study suggest that NA-931 has strong potential as a first-in-class oral quadruple receptor agonist for weight loss, demonstrating significant efficacy without muscle loss and a favorable safety profile. NA-931 is currently being advanced into Phase 3 clinical trials.

• Exploring a novel small molecule thyroid hormone receptor-β (THR-β) agonist designed to selectively activate hepatic metabolic pathways while minimizing cardiac and bone adverse effects associated with non-selective thyroid hormone signaling,
• Targeting metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and obesity.

• How is the field viewing paediatric obesity? Examining how the field perceives pediatric and adolescent obesity, emphasizing the knowledge gaps and the underrepresentation of this population in the development of obesity treatments

• Exploring actionable next steps to address critical safety concerns and improve treatment adherence in children and adolescents, incorporating insights from clinicians perspective of challenges faced in real-world practice

• Pioneering first-in-class small molecules & biologics unlocking brown adipose stem cell differentiation

• Exploring candidates boost resting metabolic rate, drive selective fat loss, improve glucose control & synergize with GLP-1s