Pharmaceutical company Pfizer is close to finalizing a $7.3bn takeover of Metsera, a biotech company developing next-generation obesity treatments, in what would be the largest deal to date by a major drugmaker entering the fast-growing weight-loss market.
Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer will pay $47.50 per share in cash, plus an additional $22.50 per share if performance milestones are met, valuing Metsera at up to $7.3bn. This represents a significant premium over Metsera’s Friday closing price of $33.32 in New York. The acquisition could be announced as early as Monday, barring last-minute setbacks, according to people familiar with the matter.
Pfizer Expansion
For Pfizer, the deal offers a fresh opportunity in obesity drugs after its in-house candidate, danuglipron, failed in clinical trials earlier this year. Metsera, which went public in one of 2025’s biggest biotech listings, is considered a leading challenger to Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, both of which dominate the current market but have faced criticism for side effects like muscle loss.
Metsera’s lead candidate, MET-097i, is a GLP-1 receptor activator that showed 11.3% body weight reduction over 12 weeks in a phase 2 trial, with relatively few side effects. The drug is also being tested as a once-monthly injection, which could improve convenience for patients. In addition, Metsera is advancing early-stage therapies targeting amylin, a hormone thought to suppress appetite without causing muscle loss, as well as a weight-loss pill.
The deal comes after a highly competitive auction that drew interest from several major pharmaceutical companies. It also follows Pfizer’s $43bn purchase of cancer-focused biotech Seagen in 2023, as the company seeks to revive investor confidence. Pfizer’s share price has fallen by more than half since its Covid-19 vaccine peak, closing Friday at just over $24 and valuing the company at $136bn.
If completed, the Metsera acquisition would mark the largest purchase of an experimental weight-loss treatment by a major pharma group. Analysts estimate the global obesity drug market could eventually reach $95bn in annual sales.
Other big players have already moved aggressively: Roche spent $5.3bn to partner with Zealand Pharma and up to $3.1bn to buy Carmot Therapeutics. Meanwhile, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have recently unveiled promising data for pill-based versions of their blockbuster treatments.
