By Mrinalika Roy and Christy Santhosh (Reuters) -Pfizer and Novo Nordisk's fight for obesity drug developer Metsera ratcheted up on Tuesday, as both companies submitted sweetened bids, with Metsera
Pfizer and Novo Nordisk Intensify Competition for Metsera Acquisition
By Mrinalika Roy and Christy Santhosh
(Reuters) -Pfizer and Novo Nordisk's fight for obesity drug developer Metsera ratcheted up on Tuesday, as both companies submitted sweetened bids, with Metsera saying Novo's $10 billion offer is superior.
The dramatic bidding war kicked off last week with Novo's surprise play for Metsera, which had already agreed to be acquired by Pfizer. It has turned into a rancorous legal fight as Novo tries to recover its once-commanding position in obesity drugs while Pfizer attempts to overcome past in-house stumbles in that market.
Pfizer bumped its offer to $8.1 billion from its original $7.3 billion. It has filed two lawsuits against Metsera, its board, and Novo Nordisk to try to prevent Novo and Metsera from making a deal. A Delaware judge on Tuesday said in a preliminary evaluation that she does not see the need to involve the court in the bidding war - but scheduled another hearing for Wednesday to review the process.
For Pfizer, the deal represents another attempt to get into an obesity treatment market forecast to grow to $150 billion annually by early next decade. The company raised its full-year profit forecast on Tuesday, but is still grappling with declining sales of COVID-19 products and big-selling medicines facing looming patent expirations.
Speaking to analysts after reporting results on Tuesday, CEO Albert Bourla said Novo's bid was "the epitome of antitrust conflict," which the Danish drugmaker has denied.
Novo has recently struggled in the face of intense competition from rival Eli Lilly, whose Zepbound has overtaken the Danish drugmaker's Wegovy.
Novo launched its unsolicited bid for Metsera on October 30, following the U.S. biotech's September agreement with Pfizer.
ACQUISITION BATTLE LANDS IN COURT
The first lawsuit, filed on Friday, claims Novo's bid breaches Pfizer's merger agreement. Metsera, in a letter on Tuesday, had said the court should not interfere in the process, arguing the competing bids suggest the auction process should play out.
Pfizer now has until the end of business Wednesday to match Novo's new proposal, the letter said.
The second lawsuit alleges the proposed deal would stifle competition in GLP-1 drug markets, amounting to monopolization and conspiracy under U.S. antitrust law. Novo has said it closely adhered to all of the restrictions under the Pfizer merger agreement.
Pfizer shares were up 1% in early trading, while Metsera jumped 15%.
UPBEAT RESULTS
Pfizer raised its 2025 profit forecast for the second consecutive quarter and now expects to earn $3.00 to $3.15 per share, up from its prior view of $2.90 to $3.10, with analysts estimating $3.04, according to LSEG data.
Pfizer also reported adjusted third-quarter earnings of 87 cents per share, topping analysts' expectations by 24 cents.
Sales of COVID antiviral Paxlovid fell 55%, while sales of Comirnaty, the vaccine it shares with BioNTech, were down 20%, largely due to lower infection rates and a narrower COVID-19 vaccine recommendation in the U.S. that reduced the eligible population.
Pfizer last month became the first major pharmaceutical company to sign a deal with the Trump administration to lower the price of its prescription drugs in the government Medicaid program in exchange for three years of tariff relief.
Total sales for the quarter fell 6% to $16.65 billion, but beat analysts' average expectation of $16.58 billion.
(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy and Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Sabrina Valle and Tom Hals; Editing by David Gaffen and Bill Berkrot)
