Pfizer amps up push into obesity treatments with $4.9B deal for Metsera
[September 23, 2025]
By TOM MURPHY
Five months after ending development of its own obesity treatment,
Pfizer is accelerating its push into the rapidly growing field with a
nearly $5 billion acquisition.
The COVID-19 vaccine and treatment maker said Monday that it will pay
$47.50 in cash for each share of development-stage drugmaker Metsera.
That represents a premium of more than 42% to Metsera’s closing price
Friday.
Pfizer also could pay an additional $22.50 per share depending on how
Metsera’s product pipeline develops.
Metsera Inc. has no products on the market, but its pipeline includes
four programs in clinical development and one in mid-stage testing.
Pfizer said the deal will add expertise and potential oral and
injectable treatments.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla noted in a statement from the drugmaker that
there are more than 200 health conditions associated with obesity, which
he called “a large and growing space.”
Demand for obesity treatments has soared in recent years, due to
unprecedented weight loss provided by regular injections of market
leaders Wegovy from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly and Co.'s Zepbound. The
Lilly drug generated $5.7 billion in sales in the first half of the
year.
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The Pfizer logo is displayed at the company's headquarters, Friday,
Feb. 5, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
But the drugs can cost patients hundreds of dollars a month, and experts
in the field are looking for competition to potentially drive down
prices.
Pfizer currently has no obesity treatments on the market but has some in
clinical development. Earlier this year, the company said it was ending
development of a potential once-daily pill treatment before it started
late-stage testing, the biggest and most expensive phase of clinical
development.
Pfizer said the boards of both New York-based companies have approved
the deal, but Metsera shareholders still need to OK it. The companies
expect the acquisition to close in this year's fourth quarter. It still
needs approval from regulators.
Shares of Pfizer Inc. climbed 38 cents to $24.40 before markets opened
Monday while Metsera's stock advanced about 61%.
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