Novo and Pfizer sweeten offers in bidding war for fat jab minnow Metsera
The battle for weight-loss drug start-up Metsera intensified yesterday as two of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical giants sweetened their offers.
Wegovy and Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk raised its bid to £7.7billion just as Pfizer said it is willing to spend £6.2billion amid a war for supremacy in the fat-jab market.
Pfizer is looking to break into the market, while Novo is scrambling to revive its fortunes after losing ground to Mounjaro maker Eli Lilly. Novo gatecrashed the proposed takeover by Pfizer last week, setting off a legal fight.
Metsera, which was set up three years ago and has just 81 staff and a handful of drugs in early-stage development, yesterday said Novo’s latest offer was ‘superior’ to Pfizer’s.
But Pfizer boss Albert Bourla hit back, saying: ‘We believe that Novo Nordisk’s offer is illusory, and cannot constitute a superior proposal under the terms of our merger agreement with Metsera because it violates antitrust law.’
A Delaware judge yesterday said in a preliminary evaluation that she does not see the need to involve the court in the bidding war.
Bidding war: Wegovy and Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk raised its bid for weight-loss drug start-up Metsera to £7.7bn just as Pfizer said it is willing to spend £6.2bn
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