Metsera calls Novo Nordisk’s new bid superior to Pfizer offer
Logos of Danish pharmaceutical manufacturer Novo Nordisk, maker of blockbuster diabetes and weight loss treatments Ozempic and Wegovy, are seen outside the building as the company presents its annual report at Novo Nordisk in Bagsvaerd, Denmark, on February 5, 2025.
Crazy Claus Rasmussen | Afp | Getty Images
metsera he said on tuesday Novo NordiskNew proposal for obesity biotechnology “superior” to a revised proposal from PfizerIt escalates a heated feud between two pharmaceutical giants over a startup.
Novo Nordisk’s new offer values Metsera at up to $86.20 per share; This means a total of approximately $10 billion. That represents a premium of roughly 159% to Pfizer’s closing price as of Sept. 19, the last trading day before it announced its offer to buy the company, Metsera said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Pfizer’s new offer values Metsera at up to $70 per share; This means approximately 8.1 billion dollars in total.
Under the terms of the original agreement for Pfizer to acquire Metsera, the drugmaker has two business days to negotiate adjustments to the offer. According to the statement, if Metsera’s board of directors believes that Novo Nordisk’s offer is better than Pfizer’s, Metsera will have the right to terminate the current merger agreement.
“We believe Novo Nordisk’s offer is misleading and cannot constitute a superior offer under the terms of our merger agreement with Metsera because it violates antitrust law and has a high risk of never being consummated,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Tuesday.
Novo Nordisk confirmed its new offer in a statement on Tuesday, saying it could maximize the potential of Metsera’s complementary medicine portfolio. Novo Nordisk reiterated that the offer complies with all applicable laws and is “in the interest of Metsera shareholders as well as patients who will benefit from our commitment to innovation.”
The new offers come a day after Pfizer filed its second lawsuit against Novo Nordisk and Metsera, alleging that the Danish drugmaker’s attempt to outbid Pfizer to acquire the biotechnology company was anti-competitive.
The conflict reflects the changing landscape of blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes drugs; veteran Novo Nordisk has now surpassed rival Eli Lilly, while other companies such as Pfizer are vying to get in on the action.
Founded in 2022, Metsera offers a pipeline of both oral and injectable treatments with different targets, including a drug that targets GLP-1 and a drug that targets another gut hormone called amylin. Both are being studied as potential once-monthly treatments; This means they are used less frequently than weekly injections on the market.
For Pfizer, Metsera’s pipeline could be the company’s golden ticket to enter the space after struggling to bring its own obesity products to market over the past few years. Novo Nordisk helped create the market but is losing market share Eli Lilly and is trying to woo investors with cheaper copies and a drug pipeline.
Pfizer announced in September that it would acquire Metsera for $4.9 billion, or up to $7.3 billion in future payments.
But Novo Nordisk launched a takeover bid on Thursday valuing the biotech at about $6 billion, or up to $9 billion, giving Pfizer four business days to renegotiate its offer.
