Pfizer’s $4.9 Billion Metsera Bet: Can It Threaten Novo & Lilly’s Obesity Dominance?

Pfizer Inc has announced a definitive agreement to acquire clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Metsera Inc. for $47.50 per share in cash, a 42.5% premium to Metsera’s last closing price, with an additional $22.50 per share potentially payable through contingent value rights (CVRs) linked to key clinical milestones. The total deal value could reach $7.3 billion. This strategic move follows Pfizer’s earlier struggles in the obesity segment after the failure of its weight-loss pill and declining COVID-19 revenues. Metsera specializes in next-generation injectable and oral treatments for obesity and cardiometabolic diseases, including GLP-1 receptor agonists and amylin analogs. The acquisition offers Pfizer access to differentiated, long-acting peptides like MET-097i and MET-233i that promise monthly dosing with improved tolerability. In light of patent cliffs, plummeting COVID revenues, and intensified competition from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, this acquisition could potentially transform Pfizer’s internal medicine portfolio and re-establish it as a formidable player in the obesity drug market.