Novo Nordisk agreed to acquire Akero Therapeutics for up to $5.2 billion, a move to bolster its portfolio of treatments for a serious liver disease linked to obesity.
The deal gives the Danish drugmaker Akero’s experimental drug, efruxifermin, which is in late-stage development for treating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH.
The acquisition comes about a month after Novo Nordisk announced a major restructuring, including cutting 9,000 jobs, to refocus on its core diabetes and obesity businesses.
Novo Nordisk will pay $4.7 billion in cash upfront, with an additional $0.5 billion contingent on the drug receiving U.S. regulatory approval for a specific MASH indication, the company said Thursday.
According to the company, efruxifermin is the only treatment to have shown significant regression of liver scarring, or fibrosis, in patients with cirrhosis in a mid-stage trial.
The deal adds a new asset to Novo Nordisk’s MASH franchise, which already includes its blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy, approved for the liver condition in the U.S. in August.
“If approved, we believe it could become a cornerstone therapy, alone or together with Wegovy (semaglutide), to tackle one of the fastest-growing metabolic diseases of our time,” said Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar.
The transaction is not expected to impact Novo Nordisk's 2025 operating profit outlook and is expected to close around the end of the year.
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