The doctor-turned-CEO aiming to beat obesity and Ozempic

Here are the key takeaways from the interview with Adam Steensburg:

1. Significant Market Growth: Since Adam Steensburg became CEO of Zeeland Pharma in 2022, the company's market value has increased ninefold, driven by his focus on developing a promising obesity treatment to compete with blockbuster drugs like Novo's Ozempic and Eli Lilly's ZeppBound.

2. Global Obesity Crisis: Steensburg emphasizes that obesity is not just a U.S. or European issue but a global phenomenon. He highlights the need to make obesity treatments affordable and accessible worldwide, as more patients globally are motivated to pay for these treatments.

3. Role of AI in Drug Development: AI is seen as a crucial tool in accelerating drug discovery and development. At Zeeland Pharma, AI is used in the discovery phase to speed up processes and identify new leads for potential obesity treatments.

4. Systemic Impact of Obesity Drugs: The knock-on effects of obesity drugs will be enormous, affecting multiple industries, particularly food companies. Steensburg believes that companies contributing to the obesity crisis must take responsibility or risk being left behind.

5. Challenges in Obesity Treatment: While GLP-1 class medicines are effective for weight loss, they come with significant side effects that many patients find difficult to tolerate. Zeeland Pharma is working on developing amylin-based treatments that aim to provide similar weight loss benefits with fewer side effects.

6. Leadership in Healthcare: Steensburg stresses the importance of leadership in recognizing and addressing the long-term health consequences of obesity. He believes that the full impact of the obesity pandemic will become evident in the coming decades, requiring proactive leadership.

7. Philosophical Reflection: Steensburg recently re-read Viktor E. Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, finding its message of creating one's own meaning in life particularly relevant in today's rapidly changing world, especially in the context of AI and societal anxiety.

These points highlight Steensburg's strategic vision and the broader implications of the work being done at Zeeland Pharma in addressing the global obesity crisis.

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Welcome to the latest edition of our interview series, which focuses on how today's leaders are thinking ahead. Adam Steensburg, 49, a doctor by training, worked at drugmaker Novo Nordisk AS before joining Zealand Pharma AS and becoming CEO in 2022. Since he took the helm, the Danish drugmaker's market value has increased ninefold as Steensburg focuses on developing a promising obesity treatment to compete with blockbuster drugs like Novo's Ozempic and Eli Lilly's ZeppBound. He sat down with Bloomberg to discuss the obesity crisis, how businesses should respond to it, and why he's reading about man's search for meaning. The transcript has been edited for brevity.

Bloomberg: The U.S. is by far the most important market for obesity drugs at the moment, but further out, maybe say a decade or more, what are the opportunities in other regions?

Steensburg: There are some interesting dynamics in Europe, where, for the first time, we see patients willing to pay for these drugs themselves because of the motivation to lose weight. That will make Europe more attractive for obesity drugs than for many other medicine launches. But we don't think about obesity as just a U.S. or European phenomenon. This is a global phenomenon. We need to make sure these drugs are available to patients outside these markets, and, of course, that requires lower costs.

Bloomberg: Where can AI be most helpful in the future of drug development?

Steensburg: It will play a role in any aspect of business and society in the future. We have already seen that. But if you look into drug discovery and development, clearly in the discovery phase where you can generate new leads, that's where AI can really go in and support. In drug development, it can speed up the processes, for example, by using AI-generated data to make clinical studies smaller. At Zeeland, we have smaller activities, especially in the discovery phase right now, where we use AI to increase speed and help us identify new leads for molecules we want to develop. Ultimately, my hope is that it will help more patients get access to medicine. There are not enough physicians in this world, so AI could really play a large role here.

Bloomberg: How widespread will the knock-on effect of obesity drugs be in other industries? Will there be a longer-term systemic transformation of broader business?

Steensburg: It will be enormous. Obesity is the biggest healthcare challenge of our time, and I truly believe that drugs cannot on their own solve this crisis. We need to see changes. And the interesting thing is we are already seeing it right now. Food companies are dying to have conversations. But maybe they should spend time developing healthier food choices instead of very processed food choices that contribute to obesity. You'll see a lot of industries having to ask themselves these questions as it becomes more recognized that this is not an individual issue. This is a societal issue, and companies that have contributed to this obesity pandemic will have to take responsibility. Otherwise, I think they will be the losers of the future.

Bloomberg: Your goal is to become a key player in the growing obesity market. What do you see as the single biggest determinant of getting there?

Steensburg: The GLP-1 class of medicines gives people the weight loss they're hoping for, approaching a mean weight loss of 20%. They do, however, have a flip side. Many patients have issues with tolerating the drugs. They vomit; they are constipated, so they are very difficult products to stay on. We potentially have with amylin a molecule that can give you the same degree of weight loss but with fewer side effects. If we can continue to develop petrolentide, and with the data we have seen thus far, it will be the second generation in obesity treatment.

Bloomberg: As these drugs reshape the landscape of everything from food to wellness, how will the leadership skills of healthcare companies need to evolve alongside that?

Steensburg: Obesity is such a big challenge. It's so under-recognized, and public opinion is still not where it should be, in my mind. So, I think the responsibility for leaders in pharma, but not just pharma, is to make sure this problem is more recognized and that we understand all the health consequences of living with obesity. Because the consequences can be severe, especially if you live with it since childhood. We may not yet have seen the full consequences of the obesity pandemic because it takes many, many years before organs start to give up. We will start to see it in the coming 10, 20, 30 years. We'll see so much additional disease. Leadership has to be aware of that.

Bloomberg: And finally, what have you recently read, watched, or listened to that's left an impression on you?

Steensburg: I re-read one of my favorite books recently because of AI and because of all the anxiety you hear among young people. It's Viktor E. Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning. That is one of the most impactful books I've ever read. Everybody is running around looking for meaning, but his message is that you should create your own meaning with life. I read it the first time probably 20 years ago, but it's even more relevant now. We are at one of those really important steps in modern human history where we're going to see a significant change, and it will affect us as human beings. We really have to ask ourselves how we want to be in this world. And running around searching for meaning—I don't think that is the right thing. You have to create it yourself.