MET-097

iStock, Robert Way Speaking at a conference this morning, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla suggested that Metsera’s therapies could begin hitting the market in 2028. The deal is done. Pfizer has officially closed the acquisition of obesity biotech darling Metsera for about $9.2 billion. The hotly contested deal ultimately gave Metsera $7 billion upfront, plus about $2.2 billion in contingent value right payments. The CVRs are tied to three clinical and regulatory milestones, according to Pfizer’s Thursday release announcing the deal’s closure. The press release did not mention the battle to secure the deal that erupted after Novo Nordisk tried to usurp the New York pharma’s September bid. But for more than a week, a bidding war drove up the price to Pfizer’s final offer. Pfizer won out because it was able to offer one thing Novo couldn’t: regulatory certainty. Analysts, and Metsera itself, concluded that Novo’s $10 billion offer would likely take about two years to clear regulatory review. Speaking at the Yahoo Finance Invest conference this morning, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said his company was the right fit for Metsera. “We are a company that knows how to run massive vaccine trials,” Bourla said. “We are a company that knows how to manufacture at scale.” Bourla suggested that the therapies garnered from the Metsera acquisition, which include the GLP-1 receptor agonist MET-097 and the long-acting amylin analog MET-233 and other earlier assets, could begin hitting the market as soon as 2028. A green banner linking to the Pfizer website was added Thursday to Metsera’s page, with parts of Metsera’s site being taken offline. The biotech is to operate as a subsidiary of Pfizer, according to the release. Obesity Is Metsera Worth the Fuss? Pfizer and Novo Nordisk seem to want Metsera bad. Analysts are wondering, though: is the obesity biotech really worth this much effort? November 5, 2025 · 4 min read · Annalee Armstrong

As drugmakers push the weight-loss space beyond weekly incretin injections, investors seem to be intrigued by Camurus' FluidCrystal technology and its potential to create a version of Novo Nordisk's GLP-1 agonist Wegovy (semaglutide) that can be dosed monthly. Shares in the Swedish firm jumped close to 15% in Stockholm on Monday after it reported that CAM2056, its long-acting formulation of the obesity blockbuster, led to either comparable — or better — reductions in body weight, A1c and fasting glucose in an early-stage study. The Phase Ib trial enrolled 80 participants with overweight or obesity to receive either Wegovy, dosed according to prescribing information, or CAM2056 given every two weeks for two initiation doses, followed by two monthly doses. At day 85, patients taking 10 mg CAM2056 experienced mean weight loss of 9.3% from baseline, compared with 5.2% for weekly Wegovy. Essentially, the company explained, patients on weekly Wegovy took five months to achieve the same degree of weight loss as was reached by CAM2056 recipients in three months. In addition, the 10 mg CAM2056 cohort saw a mean A1c change from baseline of -0.44% at day 85, versus -0.12% for the Wegovy group.The safety profile of Camurus' formulation was consistent with weekly Wegovy, except for the cohort that received the highest, 5-mg initiation dose of the candidate, which saw more frequent and severe events. For all other cohorts, the company said, its tolerability profile was favourable, with mild-to-moderate and transient gastrointestinal symptoms being the most common adverse events. One to two patients per CAM2056 arm stopped treatment early, and two in the Wegovy group. "The study data suggest that CAM2056 allows rapid dose titration without compromising tolerability, whilst also allowing convenient monthly dosing," said Fredrik Tiberg, who serves as both chief executive and chief scientist of Camurus.The company plans to launch a Phase IIb trial next year that will test longer treatment durations and elevated doses.Monthly dosing goalAlthough Camurus is developing a monthly formulation of Wegovy, Novo Nordisk is working with a different firm to make its own once-a-month GLP-1 — and recently missed out on the opportunity to add one to its pipeline via M&A. Last year, Novo tapped Ascendis Pharma and its TransCon Carrier and Linker technologies to develop monthly weight-loss and diabetes drug candidates with sustained-release and prodrug properties. The Danish drugmaker had also made a surprise bid to buy Metsera and its ultra-long acting GLP-1 agonist MET-097i, but ultimately lost out to Pfizer (see – Vital Signs: Pfizer and Novo Nordisk battle for Metsera's pound of flesh).While Camurus doesn't have a deal with Novo, it's partnered with Eli Lilly to make long-acting versions of the US pharma's incretin portfolio, including dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonists and triple GIP/glucagon/GLP-1 receptor agonists.