Zealand Pharma has found a buyer for its V-Go insulin delivery device. Weeks after lackluster sales led it to seek a partner for the device, Zealand has agreed to offload the technology and associated inventory and employees to MannKind for $10 million plus sales-based milestones.
Copenhagen-based Zealand acquired V-Go in its $23 million takeover of Valeritas two years ago, giving it a wearable insulin delivery device, 110 employees and a site in Marlborough, Massachusetts, to support its bid to become a commercial-stage company. Around one year later, Zealand won FDA approval for its Zegalogue injection treatment of severe hypoglycemia in people with diabetes.
Then, everything started to go wrong. With sales of Zegalogue and V-Go falling short of expectations, Zealand parted company with its CEO and 90% of its staff earlier this year as part of a restructuring that saw it seek partners for assets including V-Go.
MannKind has taken the other side of the deal. The drug delivery specialist made its name with inhaled insulin Afrezza, a product that generated net revenue of $39.2 million last year, and sees V-Go as a good fit for its portfolio.
“The easy click-and-go mechanism of V-Go and its ability to be flexibly placed on your body each day aligns with our mission of providing products that allow patients living with diabetes to experience life without limits,” Alejandro Galindo, executive vice president of the endocrine business unit for MannKind, said in a statement.
V-Go is a once-daily, wearable, insulin delivery device that is worn like a patch to eliminate the need for taking multiple daily shots. Neither Zealand nor Valeritas turned the attributes into commercial success, with the latter company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy shortly before concluding its deal to offload the technology.