Metsera
NEWS
Pfizer has filed two separate lawsuits in an effort to stop Novo Nordisk’s unsolicited bid to acquire obesity biotech Metsera.
Novo Nordisk, under new CEO Maziar Mike Doustdar, has a new attitude. It’s making Pfizer livid.
Pfizer called Novo’s offer “reckless and unprecedented,” in a statement issued Thursday morning.
The U.S. government remains shut down, with the FDA closed for new drug applications until further notice; cell and gene therapy leaders gather for the annual meeting in Phoenix with the field in a state of flux; Pfizer and Amgen will make drugs available at a discount as President Donald Trump’s tariffs still loom; and new regulatory documents show how Pfizer beat out the competition for Metsera.
Of the three highest bidders, Pfizer’s purchase proposal for Metsera was the lowest, regulatory documents reveal. The New York pharma, however, offered the smoothest transaction with the greatest likelihood of success.
M&A headlined for a second straight week as Genmab acquired Merus for $8 billion; Pfizer strikes most-favored-nation deal with White House; CDER Director George Tidmarsh caused a stir with a now-deleted LinkedIn post; GSK CEO Emma Walmsley will step down from her role; and uniQure’s gene therapy offers new hope for patients with Huntington’s disease.
MET-097i’s mid-stage performance “bodes well” for Pfizer’s proposed buyout of Metsera, according to BMO Capital Markets, a deal centered heavily on the investigational GLP-1 drug.
The FDA is hoping to repurpose GSK’s Wellcovorin for cerebral folate deficiency; Pfizer acquired fast-moving weight-loss startup Metsera for nearly $5 billion after suffering a hat trick of R&D failures; psychedelics are primed for M&A action and Eli Lilly may be next in line; RFK Jr.’s revamped CDC advisory committee met last week with confounding results; and Stealth secured its Barth approval.
The acquisition of breakout obesity star Metsera should pump new life into Pfizer’s portfolio, which over the last two years has suffered from three discontinued assets.
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