HQ Team
September 22, 2025: Pfizer Inc. will buy Matsera Inc. for $7.3 billion to eye at least four experimental drugs in the rapidly growing obesity market after it scrapped development of its own weight-loss pill in April this year.
“Obesity is a large and growing space with over 200 health conditions associated with it,” said Albert Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer.
“The proposed acquisition of Metsera aligns with our focus on directing our investments to the most impactful opportunities and propels Pfizer into this key therapeutic area,” he said.
Pfizer will acquire all outstanding shares of Metsera common stock for $47.50 per share in cash, representing an enterprise value of about $4.9 billion.
Contingent value right
The agreement includes a non-transferable contingent value right entitling holders to potential additional payments of up to $22.50 per share in cash tied to three specific clinical and regulatory milestones.
The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025.
Obesity, once regarded as a lifestyle issue, has now escalated into a pressing global health crisis. By 2035, an estimated 1.53 billion adults globally are projected to be living with obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2), according to IQVIA Holdings, Inc., an American company focused on health information technology and clinical research.
When combined with the overweight (BMI ≥25 to 30 kg/m2) adult population, the total number is expected to reach 3.3 billion – representing over 54% of the world’s adult population.
Explosive growth
The future of obesity care is being reshaped, offering more effective solutions for weight management and metabolic health, according to an IQVIA report.
In 2020, global spending on anti-obesity medications stood at about $3 billion. By 2024, that figure had soared to more than $30 billion — a more than tenfold increase in just four years.
Given the current trend and the pace of innovation in the disease area, the market is expected to sustain its explosive growth well into the future.
Between 2024 and 2034, the global anti-obesity medicines market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13–15% and the total market size is expected to reach approximately US$130 billion.
Four candidates
Biologics are leading the way in the obesity drug market, with GLP-1 and GIP receptor agonists holding the major share.
Metsera, based in New York City, has a portfolio of therapeutic candidates and combinations with four programs in clinical development and several next-generation programs with IND-enabling studies ongoing.
They are “aimed at addressing key unmet needs via fewer injections while achieving improved efficacy and tolerability,” according to the Pfizer statement.
GLP-1 receptor agonist
This includes MET-097i, a weekly and monthly injectable GLP-1 receptor agonist (RA), both in mid-stage development, MET-233i, and a monthly amylin analog candidate being evaluated as monotherapy and in combination with MET-097i in Phase 1 development.
The other two oral GLP-1 RA candidates are expected to begin clinical trials imminently.
The acquisition brings deep expertise and a portfolio of differentiated oral and injectable incretin, non-incretin and combination therapy candidates with potential best-in-class efficacy and safety profiles.
Novo Nordisk, AbbVie Inc., Roche and Eli Lilly are the other dominant players in the obesity market.
