US-based Metsera emerged from stealth in April this year with a $290m raise. Image credit: Shutterstock/ karen roach.

Despite the competitive nature for funding in the crowded weight loss treatment space, Metsera has won $215m to advance its glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) orientated portfolio.

The funding, via a Series B raise, was led by Wellington Management and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners. New investors including Fidelity Management & Research Company, and Janus Henderson Investors participated in the round, joining existing investors Arch Venture Partners, Alpha Wave Ventures, GV, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Newpath Partners, and SymBiosis, amongst others.

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Whilst Metsera has not specifically said how the latest funds will be divvied up, it stated the Series B will further advance its portfolio. Founded in 2022, US-based Metsera emerged from stealth in April this year with a $290m raise, meaning the company now boasts over $500m in funding to its name. The biotech is making plays in a lucrative market, with GLP-1RA therapies forecast to bring in sales of $168bn across 68 pharmaceutical markets by 2033, according to analysis by GlobalData.

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MET-097i heads up the portfolio as the company’s lead GLP-1RA asset, which produced positive Phase I data last September. Patients on the 1.2mg dose had a 7.5% reduction in body weight over 36 days when taking the injection weekly. Metsera has now launched a 16-week Phase II trial of MET-097i in overweight and obese patients, with preliminary data expected in the first half of 2025. The company stated it is eyeing Phase III trials if the 16-week trial and an already ongoing 13-week randomised extension trial both produce successful data.

Metsera has also recently advanced two other pipeline candidates to the clinic. MET-233i is what Metsera calls “an ultra-long acting injectable” which could be administered monthly – a prized target for many pharma companies in the weight loss space. Alongside MET-233i, Metsera has an oral GLP-1RA drug called MET-002 which it plans to deploy alone or in combination with its other candidates.

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Metsera’s CEO Whit Bernard said: “We now have three medicines in the clinic with more to come, based on a best-in-class half-life extension technology and a potential best-in-class oral peptide delivery platform. We look forward to continued acceleration of our pipeline.”

Already eying activities beyond clinical trials, Metsera signed a partnership deal with Amneal in October, focusing on the development and large-scale supply of weight loss medicines. As a result of the deal, Amneal will construct two new greenfield manufacturing facilities in India, one for peptide synthesis and one for sterile fill-finish manufacturing.

Novo Nordisk, maker of blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy (semaglutide), has set its sights on developing a treatment with less frequent dosing. The Danish drugmaker joined forces with Ascendis Pharma in a $285m deal earlier this month, with a once-monthly GLP-1RA at the top of the priority list.