Novo, Pfizer Square Off Over Metsera in Obesity-Drug Tussle (1)

Novo Nordisk A/S made an unsolicited bid for US biotech firm Metsera Inc., sparking a heated battle with Pfizer Inc. to get their hands on weight-loss treatments that both drugmakers want in order to regain lost ground in the booming market.

Novo offered to buy Metsera Inc. for at least $6.5 billion, seeking to trump an earlier agreed deal with Pfizer. Metsera called the new offer, which Bloomberg News reported earlier on Thursday, superior to the previous one from Pfizer that it had accepted last month.

The US drugmaker criticized the attempt to derail its deal as “reckless” and ...