June 5 (Reuters) - Zealand Pharma said on

Friday its experimental obesity drug, co-developed with Swiss

partner Roche, showed encouraging tolerability in a

mid-stage trial, bolstering its push to take on market leaders

with a potentially gentler alternative to existing blockbuster

treatments.

Here are some details:

* Denmark's Zealand said only 1.5% of patients who received

once-weekly subcutaneous injections of the drug, petrelintide,

discontinued treatment due to gastrointestinal side effects,

based on results presented at the American Diabetes Association

meeting in New Orleans.

* Most gastrointestinal side effects, including nausea and

vomiting, were mild.

* About 19.6% of patients experienced nausea and 3% reported

vomiting, compared with 6.2% in the placebo group. Fewer than

7.5% of patients in both groups reported diarrhea or

constipation.

* Petrelintide also improved key cardiovascular risk

factors, including reducing levels of a protein linked to

inflammation, lowering waist circumference and triglycerides, a

type of fat, more than placebo.

* Zealand had reported in March that petrelintide drove

weight loss of up to 10.7% over 42 weeks in a 493-patient study.

* Those results, however, fell short of investor

expectations, erasing billions of dollars from the company's

market value after trailing data of a rival amylin-based

candidate from Eli Lilly ( LLY ) showed up to 20.1% weight loss

in a comparable mid-stage trial.

* Zealand is seeking to break into the lucrative obesity

drug market, betting that its medicines could offer fewer and

less severe side effects than blockbuster treatments Zepbound

and Wegovy from market leaders Lilly  and Novo Nordisk 

.

* Unlike Wegovy and Zepbound, which target the GLP-1 hormone

to reduce appetite, amylin-based drugs such as petrelintide,

activate receptors in the brain and slow gastric ⁠emptying with

the ​potential for less severe side effects and preservation ​of

muscle.

* Roche gained ​access to petrelintide through an up to $5.3

billion collaboration and licensing deal ​last year.