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Pfizer under pressure from rival bid for Ozempic firm
The Guardian
|October 31, 2025
Novo Nordisk has launched a surprise offer for the US obesity-focused biotech firm Metsera that could beat an existing bid from Pfizer as the pharmaceutical firms fight for dominance in the weight-loss market.
The $9bn (£6.9bn) bid comes weeks after Metsera agreed to a $7.3bn takeover from the US group. Denmark's Novo Nordisk, which owns the weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, lost out in a competitive auction process in September.
Pfizer criticised the unsolicited bid and claimed it was "an attempt by a company with a dominant market position to suppress competition in violation of law by taking over an emerging American challenger".
Pfizer now has four business days to sweeten its offer for the American upstart, which listed on the Nasdaq index this year.
This story is from the October 31, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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