Pfizer’s acquisition of Metsera comes at a steep price: nearly three times the company’s valuation just eight months earlier. After abandoning its own GLP-1 program, Pfizer is paying a large premium to reenter the obesity market late. But the deal raises a question of whether Pfizer already lost?
Pfizer just paid $4.9 billion for a company worth $1.8 billion eight months ago. Is this a desperate catch-up play in the obesity market, or a strategic attack? The answer will determine whether Pfizer wastes roughly 3% of its market capitalization chasing the GLP-1 wave.
Announced in October 2024, Pfizer brokered a $7.15 billion deal ($4.9 billion paid upfront with up to $2.25 billion in contingent value rights) to acquire Metsera, a Phase 2 company, contingent on manufacturing milestones. Success from Pfizer’s competitors (Novo Nordisk and Lilly in the weight-loss sector) has led Pfizer to discontinue its own GLP-1 competitor, Danuglipron. With the acquisition of Metsera, Pfizer assumes an already promising drug and the mounting risks associated with this investment.
