Pfizer Wins Obesity Drug Battle, With Assist by Trump’s FTC (1)

Pfizer Inc. Chief Executive Albert Bourla had long searched for an obesity drug to make up for dwindling sales of the pharma company’s aging blockbusters. Late Friday, after a dramatic bidding war, he learned he’d finally claimed his prize.

Bourla found out at around 9 p.m. that evening, according to people familiar with the matter, that the board of Metsera Inc., a three-year-old biotech startup developing a new generation of weight-loss drugs, had voted unanimously to accept Pfizer’s takeover offer of as much as $10 billion.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla

Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg

It was the climax of a Wall Street duel that had pitted ...