Pfizer buys monthly GLP-1RA developer Metsera for $4.9bn

Pfizer has acquired Metsera for $4.9bn, as the drugmaker targets longer-lasting glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) to cement market share in the burgeoning weight loss treatment sector.

Pfizer has agreed to buy all of Metsera’s shares for a price of $47.50 each, representing a 43% premium to Metsera’s closing share price of $33.32 on 19 September. The deal, forecast to close in Q4 2025, also includes potential additional payments of up to $22.50 per share in cash tied to three specific clinical and regulatory milestones from Metsera’s weight loss drug portfolio.

Metsera’s stock surged 36.6% to $52.59 on 22 September. Shares in Pfizer, which has a market cap of $139.5bn, rose by 1% at market open.

Metsera’s offerings centre around injectable and oral peptides for weight loss. The biotech has developed a platform that allows for less frequent dosing – targeting administration on a monthly basis. This would be a significant improvement on the weekly dosing seen with approved weight loss therapies.

On a conference call on 22 September, Pfizer’s chief scientific officer Chris Broshoff said: “Acquiring a portfolio of clinical stage and pre-clinically potential best-in-class injectables with anticipated monthly, long-term dosing regimens will support our ambition to deliver substantial value to patients and to our shareholders.”

The acquisition marks a quick exit for Metsera, which was only founded in 2022 and publicly listed in January this year via a $289m initial public offering (IPO).

The biotech currently has four programmes in the clinic. Its lead candidate is MET-097i, a weekly and monthly injectable GLP-1RA, both in Phase II development (NCT06897202 and NCT06973720). Phase IIa data with MET-097i dosed on both a weekly and monthly regimen have demonstrated robust weight loss after 12 weeks, as per Pfizer.

MET-233i, a monthly amylin analogue candidate, is being evaluated in Phase I trials as a monotherapy (NCT07022977) and in combination with MET-097i (NCT06924320).

The biotech also has two oral GLP-1RA candidates expected to begin clinical trials imminently.

The contingent value right (CVR) included in the deal covers checkpoints for MET-097i and MET-233i. The clinical milestone is the Phase III clinical trial start of Metsera’s MET-097i+MET-233i combination while regulatory milestones will be met if MET-097i, either as a monotherapy or in combination with MET-233i, gains US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.

The deal catapults Pfizer onto the frontline of the next generation of obesity treatments. The drugmaker’s weight loss pill hopeful, orforglipron, has demonstrated strong evidence in clinical trials; however, Pfizer’s takeover of Metsera signifies a goal to differentiate its pipeline of therapies in the space dominated by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Both Novo and Lilly have been active in the acquisition space this year in efforts to consolidate obesity treatment competitiveness.

Pfizer is pinning a large chunk of its hopes on the longer-lasting nature of Metsera’s weight loss candidates, with more accessible dosing and improved tolerability likely to be a key revenue driver to the market’s future.

According to a report by GlobalData, the obesity market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 32.3% until 2031 in the seven major markets (7MM: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the UK and the US), reaching a valuation of more than $173.5bn.

During the conference call, Pfizer’s chief strategy and innovation officer Andrew Baum said that the company “evaluated multiple external opportunities in the obesity space”. In the end, it chose Metsera due to its “differentiated science and scalable platforms with potent and durable peptides that may enable ten-fold lower doses than some approved products for a very attractive cost of goods”.

Baum confirmed that Pfizer is considering co-formulating its own small molecules with Metsera’s oral peptides.

Metsera’s acquisition also represents a strategy by Pfizer to shore up future lucrative revenue streams as patent expiries loom. The big pharma company is expected to lose market exclusivity for Eliquis (apixaban), Ibrance (palbociclib), and Xtandi (enzalutamide) over the coming years. Blood thinner Eliquis alone generated $13.3bn in global sales in 2024.

“We anticipate Metsera’s pipeline will deliver a series of launches beginning in the 2028/2029 timeframe that will accelerate our growth trajectory following our major loss of exclusivities,” Baum added.

“Pfizer buys monthly GLP-1RA developer Metsera for $4.9bn” was originally created and published by Pharmaceutical Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.

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