Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 13, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Add as preferred source on GooglePfizer has completed its $10 billion acquisition of Metsera, marking its entry into the obesity drug market with promising new treatments.
By Kamal Choudhury and Mariam Sunny
(Reuters) -Pfizer on Thursday closed its up to $10 billion acquisition of Metsera after winning shareholder approval, gaining a foothold in the fast-growing obesity market following a fierce bidding war with Novo Nordisk.
The greenlight from Metsera's shareholders paves the way for Pfizer to diversify beyond its shrinking COVID-19 portfolio, navigate looming patent expirations, and tap into the fast-growing weight-loss drug market that analysts estimate could be worth $150 billion annually by the end of the decade.
Shares of Pfizer were up 1.4%, while U.S.-listed shares of Novo slipped 1.3%.
"By acquiring Metsera, we are directing our resources toward one of the most impactful and high-growth therapeutic areas and positioning ourselves to define it," Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.
Pfizer had discontinued two oral GLP-1 candidates - lotiglipron in 2023 and danuglipron in 2025 - due to liver safety concerns, leaving it without a viable in-house obesity drug.
Metsera's board had unanimously backed Pfizer's amended offer, which valued the biotech at up to $86.25 per share, including $65.60 in cash and up to $20.65 tied to success of its drug pipeline.
Metsera's lead candidate, MET-097i, a once-monthly GLP-1 injection, has drawn attention for its potential to rival Novo's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Zepbound, which require weekly injections.
MET-097i had helped patients lose up to 14.1% of their body weight in two mid-stage studies. The company is advancing it into late-stage trials.
Pfizer said in September it expects Metsera's drugs to launch in the 2028, 2029 time frame and potentially help offset upcoming patent losses.
Earlier this year, Pfizer said it expects a $17 billion to $18 billion revenue hit annually from drugs losing patent protection between 2026 and 2028, including blood thinner Eliquis and cancer drugs Ibrance and Xtandi.
(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury and Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
An acquisition is a corporate action in which one company purchases most or all of another company's shares to gain control. This often leads to the integration of the acquired company into the acquiring company's operations.
A market trend refers to the general direction in which a market is moving over time. It can indicate whether prices are rising, falling, or remaining stable, and is often used for investment decisions.
A drug pipeline refers to the process of developing new pharmaceutical products from initial research through clinical trials to market approval. It outlines the stages a drug must go through before it can be sold.
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