The latest brawl on Wall Street is between two pharma giants fighting over the acquisition of Metsera, an obesity biotech company.
Since Novo Nordisk received FDA approval in 2021 for Ozempic’s use for weight loss (under the brand name Wegovy), pharma companies and other health-related businesses have been busy adding similar drugs to their portfolios.
“It’s us and Pfizer competing for the company, and right now, our bid is higher,” Novo Nordisk CEO Maziar Mike Doustdar said Thursday during a White House press conference about lowering prices for this category of drugs.
Pfizer had inked a $7.3 billion deal to acquire Metsera in September and cleared FTC approval last month. However, Novo’s attempt to hijack the sale has led to lawsuits from Pfizer and the FTC expressing concerns over Novo’s proposal.
The companies have continued to duke it out, starting with Novo’s $10 billion bid to outdo the $8.1 billion Pfizer had proposed. The latter later matched $10 billion, then Novo raised its own bid, according to reports on Thursday.
Weight loss drug companies remain hot, with a number of them going public or being acquired in recent years.
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