Novo Sweetens Its Bid For Metsera, Pledging Up To $10 Billion

Novo Nordisk (NVO) said it would pay up to $10 billion to acquire obesity-focused products Mitsira (MTSR), topping PfizerPFE recently raised an offer worth $8.1 billion.

The escalating takeover battle sent Metsera shares up more than 19% to 72.51. Meanwhile, Pfizer stock fell slightly, while Novo stock fell more than 1%.

Pfizer was the first acquirer of Metsira, pledging in mid-September to pay up to $4.9 billion to buy the small biotechnology company, which focuses on obesity treatments. Last week, Novo Nordisk made an unsolicited offer worth up to $6.5 billion.

Metsera says Novo Nordisk’s revised offer is superior to Pfizer’s. Pfizer now has two days to negotiate a higher price. The Novo deal values ​​Metsera shares at $62.20 per share in cash and adds a conditional value of up to $24 per share based on specific milestones.

Why Metsera is important to Novo and Pfizer

Donnybrook dropping the gloves could have major implications for either pharmaceutical giant. Pfizer has struggled to build a weight-loss franchise. A handful of its drugs caused liver problems, sending the company back to the drawing board. Although Pfizer has several assets in development, they are all at an early stage.

On the other hand, Novo is one of the two leading companies in the weight loss market. But she faces Eli Lilly (LLY), whose sales are growing rapidly. Revenues for Zepbound, Lilly’s weight-loss drug, rose 185% to $3.59 billion in the third quarter. Diabetes drug Mongaro, which uses the same chemical backbone, brought in $6.52 billion. Mongaro sales doubled year-on-year.

Meanwhile, Novo’s weight-loss drug, Wegovy, is expected to generate $3.33 billion in third-quarter sales. But this would grow by a more modest 34%. Sales of Ozempic, a diabetes drug, are expected to increase just 10% to $4.73 billion.

This will be the second quarter in a row where Zepbound and Mounjaro outperform Wegovy and Ozempic. Novo is scheduled to announce its third-quarter earnings on Wednesday.

Composite also continues to challenge Novo Nordisk, beating out Wegovy and Ozempic for a lower price.

Follow Alison Gatlin on X/Twitter at @AGatlin_IBD.

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