A team from Dechert LLP advised Zealand Pharma (NASDAQ OMX: ZEAL) ("Zealand") in its announced exclusive peptide drug research and development collaboration agreement with Eli Lilly and Company ("Lilly"). Under the agreement, Zealand will collaborate with Lilly in the design and development of potentially first-in-class peptide therapeutics for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes and obesity based on a novel approach discovered by Lilly. The companies will share in the funding, risk and reward of the program. Future expansion of the collaboration to additional drug targets and disease areas is possible. No financial terms of the agreement have been disclosed.

Jonathan Schur led the Dechert team which included Kristopher Brown and Sarah Kupferman (Corporate) and Thomas Rayski (IP). Jonathan Schur said, "The real news here is the direction of the arrow. The base technology is coming from the Big Pharma to the biotech, so that it can be matured to the next stage of development. It's a true collaboration, with each team bringing unique competences to the table in a joint effort to bring forward a potential first-in-class diabetes medicine. In this type of transaction, aligning incentives and careful IP ownership planning are key to success."