Seeking Alpha’s roundup of statements, announcements, and remarks that could impact markets, sectors, or individual stocks.
- Pfizer (PFE) said it has filed a second lawsuit in federal court as part of an effort to block a competing acquisition bid for weight-loss drug developer Metsera (MTSR) by Novo Nordisk (NVO), citing anticompetitive concerns.
Pfizer has also alleged that Metsera controlling shareholders conspired with Novo Nordisk, which markets the hugely popular prescription weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic, “in furtherance of these anticompetitive activities.”
The Big Pharma giant said in a statement that it was taking legal action “to preserve and enhance competition in this important therapeutic area and to stop Novo Nordisk (NVO) from illegally paying off Metsera and its controlling stockholders to gain control of, and impair and potentially kill, an emerging U.S. competitor.”
In September, Pfizer offered up to $7.3 billion for Metsera, which the company accepted. Novo Nordisk announced a competing bid of up to roughly $9 billion for the company last week.
Pfizer (PFE) previously filed a lawsuit asking the court to prevent Metsera from terminating their merger agreement.
Novo Nordisk (NVO) and Eli Lilly (LLY), which markets Mounjaro and Zepound, are currently the dominant players in the lucrative U.S. weight-loss prescription drug market.
- Novo Nordisk (NVO), meanwhile, has rejected Pfizer’s claims as “baseless.”
“Pfizer’s baseless claims that Novo Nordisk intends to suppress innovation through our offer is false and without merit,” said Novo Nordisk spokesperson Ambre James Brown in a statement, according to CNBC.
“Instead of competing on price, Pfizer has taken the highly unusual and seemingly desperate approach in filing its antitrust lawsuit today,” Brown added.
“Pfizer is trying to litigate its way to buying Metsera for a lower price than Novo Nordisk,” Metsera said in a statement to CNBC, adding that Pfizer’s claims were “nonsense, and Metsera will address them in court.”
- President Trump told 60 Minutes on Sunday that he doesn’t know anything about Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, whom he pardoned last month, or Binance’s involvement with a cryptocurrency company linked to the Trump family.
“Okay, are you ready? I don’t know who he is,” Trump said when asked about Zhao, according to CNBC.
Trump added, however, that Zhao had been the victim of a “witch hunt” by the Biden administration.
“I don’t know the man at all. I don’t think I ever met him,” Trump told 60 Minutes. “I have no idea who he is. I was told that he was a victim, just like I was and just like many other people, of a vicious, horrible group of people in the Biden administration.”
Zhao was sent to prison in 2024 for four months for failing to combat money laundering on Binance’s (BNB-USD) crypto exchange, CNBC noted.