Metsera, a well-funded biotech trying to angle toward the front of the obesity medicine pack, has proposed a $250 million IPO.
That would be the size of net proceeds Metsera would gain from its Nasdaq debut if the company sells 17.18 million shares at the midpoint of a proposed $15 to $17 per share
$MTSR
range, according to an amended IPO
document
filed Monday. Another biotech, Maze Therapeutics, shared its IPO price range document earlier Monday,
eyeing $113 million
for its kidney disease drug.
Metsera said it expects to use all $250 million from the planned IPO for an upcoming Phase 3 program of its most advanced candidate, an injectable GLP-1 receptor agonist called MET-097i. The money will bankroll late-stage topline results and milestone payments to Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, according to Monday’s filing. Metsera devoted $20.2 million to the asset in the first nine months of 2024.
MET-097i is being tested as a weekly option. The Phase 2b readout is slated for the middle of this year. Metsera also plans to begin a Phase 2b testing a monthly dosing regimen of the biologic. That study is expected to have results either at the end of this year or in early 2026, according to the S-1.
Metsera got its hands on MET-097i by way of acquiring London startup Zihipp in 2023. Zihipp had the exclusive license to certain IP and products from Imperial College. Metsera could owe the college up to $26.1 million in development, regulatory and financial milestones, according to the S-1 filing. Metsera also must pay Imperial an annual license fee, plus low single-digit royalties if any of the products are approved.
Beyond that lead candidate, Metsera has an amylin analog called MET-233i. Phase 1 data will arrive in the middle of this year. The biotech said it could eventually seek an NDA for the drug as a monotherapy, though Metsera is developing it “primarily” as a combo tool for MET-097i.
Metsera leapt onto the scene last spring with a
$290 million bet
that it could quickly vie for a spot in the obesity drug world. It bought Zihipp and licensed a suite of assets from Korean biotech D&D Pharmatech. It then revealed early clinical data, signed a
manufacturing partnership
, promoted Whit Bernard to CEO and stapled together
another nine-figure financing round
.