Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, best known for its COVID-19 vaccine Pfizer has revealed it is buying weight-loss drug developer Metsera for $4.9 billion, a move that will allow Pfizer to step up its bet on solutions in the popular obesity treatment area, AP notes.
Shares of Metsera after the announcement of the deal soared by 61%, Pfizer quotes added 1.5%.
Pfizer will pay $47.5 in cash for each share of Metsera stock, more than 42% above the closing price on Friday, September 19. The pharma giant may also pay an additional $22.5 per share if Metsera's product development is successful, AP reports.
Metsera does not yet have any commercial weight management products, but its portfolio includes four programs in clinical trials and one in mid-stage testing. Pfizer itself does not yet have any off-the-shelf solutions in this area, although several solutions are also being tested. In April, the company said it had stopped developing a potential drug in the form of a once-a-day tablet before entering the final, most expensive stage of trials.
Demand for anti-obesity products has skyrocketed in recent years due to the results of drugs such as Zepbound from Eli Lilly and Wegovy from Novo Nordisk. These two companies currently share leadership in overweight therapy.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
