Two years later, these treatments placed “Metsera” at the heart of a fierce acquisition battle, with both “Novo Nordisk,” the maker of “Ozempic,” and “Pfizer” showing a willingness to pay up to $10 billion to acquire the company.
On Tuesday, the two companies submitted new, improved offers to buy “Metsera,” while the biotech company continued to consider Novo’s offer “superior.”
## Bidding war?
The opportunity at hand lies in competing in one of the most profitable drug categories in the history of the pharmaceutical industry, where annual market sales are expected to reach $95 billion by 2030, as current obesity treatments face competition from a new generation of drugs.
The conflict has extended from boardrooms to courtrooms to the corridors of Washington, at a very sensitive time for the pharmaceutical sector, as the two giant drug companies Novo and Eli Lilly negotiate price cuts with the White House, which Pfizer has already done.
Ailsa Craig, portfolio manager at International Biotechnology Trust, which owns shares in Metsera, said: “It’s rare to see a bidding war break out after an acquisition has been announced, but this reflects the level of demand for high-quality assets in this area.”
In September, Pfizer struck a deal valuing Metsera at up to $7.3 billion, after its CEO Albert Bourla personally sought to win over board members. The deal topped six other offers Metsera had received.
A month later, the Danish company Novo suddenly emerged, having previously been among the parties bidding for Metsera, with an unsolicited offer. Pfizer and Novo have exchanged bids and scathing criticism in equal measure in their rivalry for Metsera.
Pfizer is striving to reassure the White House by portraying the battle as a foreign company invading American assets. It has also filed a lawsuit to block Novo’s attempt to thwart its deal, claiming in two separate lawsuits that it violates the original merger agreement and contravenes antitrust rules.
Judge Morgan Zorn, in Delaware court, adjourned a hearing on Pfizer’s attempt to block the Novo deal on the grounds that the deal structure was illegal, considering that the court was in the midst of an “ongoing resolution process.”
The battle for Metsera culminates an active period of acquisition deals in the biotech sector, which has achieved acquisition deals worth nearly $120 billion so far this year, almost double last year’s total, according to DealForma, a company that monitors the sector.
Peter Kolchinsky, managing partner at RA Capital Management, one of the top 20 shareholders in Metsera, said: “This bidding war seems logical to me, especially given that major pharmaceutical companies are scrambling to offset their portfolio’s revenues that are constantly dependent on generic drugs.”
(Translations)
