Lilly, Novo to Lower Obesity Drug Prices with Trump Deal

Описание: Eli Lilly & Co. and Novo Nordisk A/S secured deals with the Trump administration to slash prices for their weight-loss drugs in exchange for tariff relief and wider access for Medicare patients. President Trump spoke about the deal earlier today from the Oval Office. The companies' products will receive a three-year grace period from Trump's forthcoming duties on pharmaceutical imports and will be available to certain people on Medicare at a lower cost. Bloomberg's Robert Langreth joined Norah Mulinda and Bailey Lipschultz on 'Bloomberg Businessweek Daily' to break it down.

Novo Nordisk A/S has again increased its offer for Metsera Inc. as its takeover battle with Pfizer Inc. for the obesity startup escalates. 
The Danish drugmaker’s move comes in response to Pfizer bumping its bid for Metsera yesterday to as much as $86.20 per share including milestone payments, people familiar with the matter said. This matched the most recent publicly announced proposal from Novo.
The bidding war is expected to conclude in a matter of days, according to the people. Metsera’s decision will likely come down to which party can pay more, they said. 
“As of today, our bid is higher, and our message to Pfizer is that if they would like to buy the company, then put your hand in the pocket and bid higher,” Novo’s Chief Executive Officer Mike Doustdar said during a press conference with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday.
Pfizer has put a so-called ticking clock on its offer, which means it will expire after a certain period of time, one of the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. Pfizer will win out if the companies offer the same amount, per its merger agreement.
Metsera was trading around 13% higher at 2:55 p.m. in New York Thursday, giving the company a market value of about $8.5 billion. 
Spokespeople for Pfizer and Metsera didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Endpoints News and The Financial Times reported earlier on Novo bumping its bid, citing unidentified people. 
Pfizer initially agreed to buy Metsera for $4.9 billion in September, before Novo shocked Wall Street with a higher bid for the company in October. Both Pfizer and Novo subsequently made increased offer. 
A judge on Wednesday denied Pfizer’s request to temporarily block Novo’s bid. Pfizer had argued that the Danish company’s offer violated the terms of its original agreement because it didn’t qualify as a “superior” proposal.
The fight for Metsera follows setbacks for both Novo and Pfizer in an obesity drug market that’s expected to reach $100 billion by 2030. Eli Lilly & Co. has gained an advantage on Novo, saying in an earnings presentation recently that it now has about 58% of the market for new weight-loss drugs using so-called GLP-1 technology.
On Thursday, Eli Lilly and Novo secured deals with the Trump administration to slash prices for their blockbuster weight-loss drugs in exchange for tariff relief and wider access for Medicare patients.


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