Pfizer to acquire Metsera in $7.3 billion deal to enter obesity drug market
Pfizer announced Monday that it will acquire biotech firm Metsera in a deal worth up to $7.3 billion, including future milestone payments, as it works to secure a foothold in the booming obesity drug market.
Under the agreement, Pfizer will pay $47.50 a share in cash for Metsera, representing a 43% premium to the company’s closing price of $33.32 last Friday. That values the deal at $4.9 billion on an enterprise basis. The pact also includes a contingent value right of up to $22.50 a share tied to clinical and regulatory milestones, which could lift the total consideration to $70 a share.
The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2025. Following the announcement, Metsera’s shares surged more than 60% in premarket trading on Monday, while Pfizer stock climbed more than 1%.
A Bid to Recover Lost Ground
The move comes after Pfizer faced repeated setbacks in its own obesity drug development. The company scrapped danuglipron, its lead oral obesity candidate, in April due to safety issues, and discontinued a separate pill in mid-2023 after clinical trial patients experienced elevated liver enzymes. While Pfizer still has earlier-stage candidates in its pipeline, investors have been pressuring the company to accelerate its entry into a market some analysts expect to hit $100 billion annually by the 2030s.
“The proposed acquisition of Metsera aligns with our focus on directing our investments to the most impactful opportunities and propels Pfizer into this key therapeutic area,” said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla. “We are excited to apply our deep cardiometabolic experience and manufacturing and commercial infrastructure to accelerate a portfolio that includes potential best-in-class injectables.”
Metsera’s Next-Generation Pipeline
Founded in 2022, New York–based Metsera brings a portfolio of oral and injectable obesity treatments acquired through licensing and deals of its own. Its leading candidate, MET-233i, is a GLP-1 drug being developed as a once-monthly injection. Early trial data showed patients lost up to 8.4% of their body weight in just over a month—a potentially more convenient alternative to existing weekly injections like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound.
Metsera is also advancing a monthly amylin-targeting drug and two oral GLP-1 candidates expected to enter trials soon, according to Pfizer.
Analysts say the deal could help Pfizer regain competitiveness in the obesity space. Leerink Partners’ David Risinger estimated Metsera’s pipeline could generate more than $5 billion in peak annual sales. JPMorgan’s Chris Schott noted the acquisition “should accelerate” Pfizer’s entry into the fast-growing market.
Riding the Obesity Drug Boom
The acquisition underscores the intense race among pharmaceutical companies to capture market share in next-generation obesity treatments. Weekly GLP-1 injections from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have already transformed the sector, but newer entrants like Metsera are betting on less frequent dosing and oral formulations to attract patients and expand adoption.
Metsera went public earlier this year in one of 2025’s largest biotech IPOs. Its rapid rise and acquisition by Pfizer highlight the heightened demand for innovative therapies in a therapeutic area that many experts believe will define the next decade of pharmaceutical growth.
