Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla says aggressive bid for Metsera reflects company’s ‘right to win’ obesity market-awdailynews

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2025-11-14

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla says aggressive bid for Metsera reflects company’s ‘right to win’ obesity market

Pfizer (PFE) CEO and chairman Albert Bourla told Yahoo Finance that the $10 billion acquisition of GLP-1 maker Metsera (MTSR) is part of the big pharma company’s “right to win” in the obesity drug game.

Pfizer competitor Novo Nordisk (NVO), the maker of the GLP-1 drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, had put in multiple escalating bids for Metsera, which makes a monthly GLP-1 injection. Pfizer was forced to double its offer from an original bid of $4.9 billion.

Pfizer traded roughly flat on Monday in the first trading session after the announcement, but has since gained about 4.9%.

Part of Metsera’s portfolio is, like others, a weekly GLP-1. But key to the Metsera portfolio, Bourla said, is its monthly GLP-1, which will be market-leading. He said Pfizer is the right company to bring the product to market.

“We are a company that knows how to run massive vaccine trials … we are a company that knows how to manufacture at scale,” Bourla said.

If all goes well and Pfizer moves fast on development, Bourla said, he sees Metsera’s new GLP-1 products hitting the market in 2028.

Shares in the drug market have fallen far behind the S&P 500 (^GSPC) throughout the year, down roughly 2.5% since the start of 2025. The share price has fallen by more than 55% since its all-time high, reached during the throes of the pandemic as Pfizer became one of three major COVID-19 vaccine providers alongside Moderna (MRNA) and AstraZeneca (AZN).

Through the back of 2024 and into the front half of 2025, Pfizer — and Bourla — also faced down an activist campaign from investment firm Starboard Value, which argued that Pfizer had squandered pandemic revenues and sought to replace Bourla as CEO. Starboard began unwinding its stake in May when it became clear the campaign was largely unsuccessful.

Healthcare has also taken a front seat in Washington in the past few months.

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 30: Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla speaks (C) as (L-R) Health and Human Services senior advisor Chris Klomp, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Mehmet Oz look on after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a deal with Pfizer to lower Medicaid drug prices in the Oval Office of the White House on September 30, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Trump administration has reportedly reached an agreement with pharmaceutical company Pfizer to voluntarily sell its medications through Medicaid at lower prices (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) — Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla speaks in the Oval Office of the White House after President Trump announced a deal with Pfizer to lower Medicaid drug prices on Sept. 30, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) · Win McNamee via Getty Images

In October, Pfizer agreed to a plan by the Trump administration that will see the drugmaker lower its prices in exchange for an exemption from tariffs that would have hit its business hard. The company will also participate in the administration’s “TrumpRX” plan, which will allow customers to buy drugs directly from the manufacturer at massive discounts.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy has taken strong anti-vaccine stances in his role, which has roiled much of the medical community. Bourla, however, doesn’t see the posture as a threat to Pfizer “because we’re not going back to past times.”

“Vaccines have saved the world, and they will continue doing that,” Bourla said.