Pfizer sues Metsera, Novo Nordisk over rival obesity drug bid

(Reuters) -Pfizer said on Friday it had filed a lawsuit against Metsera and Novo Nordisk , saying Metsera breached its merger agreement obligations in declaring the Danish drugmaker's $8.5 billion bid for the U.S. obesity drug developer to be a superior offer.

Pfizer asked the Delaware court where it filed the lawsuit to issue a temporary restraining order to block Metsera from terminating the agreement. The lawsuit was not immediately available in the court's electronic filing system.

Metsera has given Pfizer until Tuesday to raise its offer.

Pfizer said its suit says that Novo's bid is an illegal attempt by a dominant company in the market to bypass antitrust scrutiny and carries significant regulatory risks.

The legal action comes as Pfizer received early antitrust clearance for its proposed $7.3 billion acquisition of Metsera from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. It granted early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, more than a week ahead of the November 7 deadline.

Pfizer, which does not currently sell a weight-loss drug, is trying to enter the fast-growing obesity market projected to reach $150 billion by the early 2030s.

The company has faced setbacks in developing its own treatments and is looking to offset falling COVID-related revenue and looming patent expirations.

Novo Nordisk, maker of Wegovy and Ozempic, is seeking to regain ground lost to Eli Lilly, whose drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro have shown stronger clinical results.

Metsera's pipeline includes experimental GLP-1 and amylin-based therapies that analysts say could generate $5 billion in peak sales.

Metsera and Novo did not immediately reply to Reuters' requests for comment.

(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury, Christy Santhosh and Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Anil D'Silva)