Pfizer has announced its acquisition of Metsera for an initial $4.9 billion upfront payment, aiming to strengthen its position in the obesity drug market. The deal includes contingent milestone payments that could raise the total to $7.3 billion, contingent on clinical and regulatory successes with Metsera’s pipeline of injectable and oral weight loss medicines. Metsera, a relatively young biotech public since early 2025, offers a range of GLP-1 receptor agonists and amylin analogs in different stages of clinical development, designed to improve dosing convenience and tolerability. This acquisition follows Pfizer's prior setbacks in obesity drug development and signals a strategic recalibration to regain ground in this highly competitive therapeutic area.