Pfizer nears $7.3B takeover of weight loss drugmaker Metsera, FT reports

[Pfizer Headquarters in New York]
georgeclerk

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/PFE]) has agreed to acquire Metsera (NASDAQ:MTSR [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MTSR]) in a deal worth $47.50 per share in cash, valuing the company at $4.9 billion upfront, with the potential for shareholders to receive up to an additional $22.50 per share through contingent value rights tied to future milestones.

Metsera, up nearly 60% in premarket trading, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company accelerating the next generation of medicines for obesity and cardiometabolic diseases.

Talks to acquire Metsera (NASDAQ:MTSR [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MTSR]) surfaced just months after the biotech firm's blockbuster debut on Nasdaq, and the $47.50-per-share offer reflects a roughly 42.5% premium over the company's Friday closing price of $33.32, which pegged its market value at about $3.5 billion.

Metsera has a portfolio of therapeutic candidates and combinations with four programs in clinical development and several next-generation programs with IND-enabling studies ongoing, aimed at addressing key unmet needs via fewer injections while achieving improved efficacy and tolerability.

This includes MET-097i, a weekly and monthly injectable GLP-1 receptor agonist, both in Phase 2 development, and MET-233i, a monthly amylin analog candidate being evaluated as monotherapy and in combination with MET-097i in Phase 1 development.

The company also has two oral GLP-1 RA candidates expected to begin clinical trials imminently and additional preclinical nutrient-stimulated hormone therapeutics.

_Updates story with Pfizer's statement [https://seekingalpha.com/pr/20239248-pfizer-to-acquire-metsera-and-its-next-generation-obesity-portfolio] and share movement. PFE up 1.8%._

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