Metsera describes Novo Nordisk’s new offering as better than Pfizer’s

Mitsira He said on Tuesday Novo NordiskAmazon biotech’s new obesity bid is considered “superior” to its revised bid Pfizerescalating the heated startup conflict between the two pharmaceutical giants.

Novo Nordisk’s new offer values ​​Metsera at up to $86.20 per share, for a total of about $10 billion. This represents a roughly 159% premium to its closing price as of September 19, the last trading day before Pfizer announced its proposed acquisition of the company, Metsera said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Pfizer’s new proposal values ​​Metsera at up to $70 per share, for a total of approximately $8.1 billion.

Under the terms of Pfizer’s original agreement to acquire Metsera, the pharmaceutical company had two business days to negotiate modifications to the offer. If Metsera’s board believes Novo Nordisk’s proposal is still better than Pfizer’s proposal after that window, Metsera will be entitled to terminate the existing merger agreement, according to the statement.

“We believe Novo Nordisk’s proposal is illusory and cannot constitute a superior proposal under the terms of our merger agreement with Metsera because it violates antitrust law and there is a significant risk that it will never be implemented,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Tuesday.

In a statement on Tuesday, Novo Nordisk confirmed its new offering and said it could increase the potential of Metsera’s complementary medicine portfolio. Novo Nordisk reiterated that the proposal complies with all applicable laws and “is in the best interest of patients who will benefit from our commitment to innovation, as well as Metsera shareholders.”

The new offers come one day after Pfizer filed its second lawsuit against Novo Nordisk and Metsira, alleging that the Danish pharmaceutical company’s attempt to submit a higher bid than Pfizer to acquire the biotechnology company is anti-competitive.

The clash reflects the changing landscape of weight-loss and diabetes drugs, with veteran Novo Nordisk now lagging behind rival Eli Lilly while others such as Pfizer race to take it in.

Metsera, founded in 2022, offers a range of oral and injectable therapies with different targets, including one that targets GLP-1 and another that targets another hormone in the gut called amylin. Both are being studied as potential once-monthly treatments, meaning they are given less frequently than weekly injections on the market.

For Pfizer, the Metsera pipeline could be the company’s golden ticket into this space after it struggled to bring its obesity products to market over the past few years. Novo Nordisk helped create the market, but is losing market share to it Eli Lilly And cheaper imitators are struggling to convince investors with their drug product line.

Pfizer said in September that it would acquire Metsira for $4.9 billion, or up to $7.3 billion with future payments.

But Novo Nordisk launched a takeover bid on Thursday valuing the biotech at about $6 billion, or as much as $9 billion, setting a four-business-day deadline for Pfizer to renegotiate its offer.