INDIA'S WEIGHT-LOSS BET

GLOBAL PHARMA MAJORS INVEST IN ANTI-OBESITY DRUGS AS DIABETES, WEIGHT MANAGEMENT TAKE CENTRE STAGE.

- BY JOE C. MATHEW

WHEN PFIZER INC., the world's No. 1 pharmaceutical company with 2024 revenues of $63.6 billion, announced the acquisition of Metsera, a biotech startup founded in 2022 with no medicines in the market so far, it did not surprise market watchers. Pfizer's success in the month-long bidding war with Denmark's Novo Nordisk marked its entry into the anti-obesity drugs segment, which is also one of India's fastest-growing.

New York-headquartered Pfizer paid approximately $7 billion, with a commitment to pay up to $3 billion more, based on three specified clinical and regulatory milestones that Metsera's experimental drugs are likely to achieve. Pfizer's single-largest money spinner is currently Eliquis, its brand for the anticoagulant apixaban, for which it shares a patent with Bristol Myers Squib. Eliquis generated sales of $7.4 billion in 2024, or 12% of its total revenues.

For Novo Nordisk, the world's No. 12 pharma company with revenues of $42.1 billion, Metsera's pipeline would have added to its clutch of anti-obesity blockbusters. Novo Nordisk's Ozempic (semaglutide) fetched revenues of $17.45 billion in 2024.

What was Metsera developing? Its lineup includes glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists, which have become a hit in managing obesity and treating diabetes. Novo Nordisk also sells GLP-1 semaglutide injectables under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, as well as Rybelsus, the only oral form.

The GLP-1 class is driving growth in the pharmaceutical sector. Every pharma major—big or small, innovator or generics maker—is eyeing the GLP 'Gold Rush' as more people get overweight and obese and fall victim to diabetes.