10 Stocks on Fire Amid Market Chaos

5. Metsera, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTSR)

Metsera soared to a new all-time high on Thursday as buying appetite was bolstered by an intensifying billion-dollar bidding war from two pharmaceutical giants.

At intra-day trading, Metsera, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTSR) climbed to a new high of $82.79 before trimming gains to end the day just up by 14.25 percent at $81.55 apiece.

This followed news that Pfizer Inc. upgraded its offer to buy Metsera, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTSR) for $10 billion, matching Novo Nordisk’s, albeit the latter said its offer remained higher.

The bidding war began privately in January this year, with both companies aiming to gain a foothold and a larger market share in the booming weight-loss market.

Earlier this year, Pfizer shelved a clinical trial for its own weight-loss drug candidate amid safety concerns and shifted its sights on acquiring Metsera, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTSR) to reenter the space. Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk moved to tighten its grip after losing ground to its largest rival, Eli Lilly.

Metsera, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTSR) already signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Pfizer last month, but later walked back following Novo’s higher offer.

Pfizer later sued Metsera and Novo for breaching the definitive agreement, saying that the latter’s move “constitutes an anticompetitive action … to protect its dominant market position in GLP-1s.”