Novo Nordisk, Pfizer enter bidding war for biotech startup—and it is getting ugly
Two of the world’s largest biopharmaceutical companies are currently battling it out to acquire New York City-based Metsera, an up-and-coming competitor. Pfizer was the first to strike, announcing that a deal was in place to acquire Metsera for approximately $4.9 billion, but Novo Nordisk has now made an offer of its own for approximately $6.5 billion.
Metsera issued a statement about the new offer, calling it “superior,” and said it hopes to negotiate with Pfizer to work on “potential adjustments.” If Metsera remains confident that Novo Nordisk made the better offer, however, the company said it could terminate its agreement with Pfizer and move forward with the new deal.
As one may expect, Pfizer is unhappy with these developments.
“It is an attempt by a company with a dominant market position to suppress competition in violation of law by taking over an emerging American challenger,” the company said in a new statement. “It is also structured in a way to circumvent antitrust laws and carries substantial regulatory and executional risk. The proposal is illusory and cannot qualify as a superior proposal under Pfizer’s agreement with Metsera, and Pfizer is prepared to pursue all legal avenues to enforce its rights under its agreement.”
In the end, the offers made by Pfizer and Novo Nordisk could both be worth much more if certain regulatory milestones are met.
Metsera’s portfolio includes multiple obesity drugs
At a time when GLP-1 drugs are massively popular, Metsera is actively developing multiple drug candidates that could be quite successful. MET-097i, for example, is an injectable GLP-1 receptor agonist that could potentially be available as either a weekly or a monthly dose.
Two oral GLP-1 receptor agonists are also in the works. Having the option to treat patients with pills instead of needles is widely seen as a turning point for these popular medications. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just approved Rybelsus, Novo Nordisk’s oral semaglutide foundation, for reducing the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in high-risk patients with type 2 diabetes. While it was the first oral GLP-1 drug to be approved by the FDA for that indication, it is unlikely to be the last.
Michael has more than 19 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.