Pharma Mergers and Acquisitions Surge: What's Next for 2026?

Big Pharma is stepping up its M&A activity with Pfizer, Novo Nordisk, and Roche announcing multi-billion-dollar deals targeting the metabolic and obesity-related disease space. Pfizer is acquiring Metsera for $4.9 billion to re-enter the obesity market, while Roche is buying 89bio for $3.5 billion to augment its portfolio in cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic diseases. Novo Nordisk is acquiring Akero Therapeutics for $4.7 billion to deepen its MASH pipeline. These deals signal a busy 2026 for the pharma industry.

Big Pharma is stepping up its M&A activity with Pfizer, Novo Nordisk, and Roche announcing multi-billion-dollar deals targeting the metabolic and obesity-related disease space. Pfizer is acquiring Metsera for $4.9 billion to re-enter the obesity market, while Roche is buying 89bio for $3.5 billion to augment its portfolio in cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic diseases. Novo Nordisk is acquiring Akero Therapeutics for $4.7 billion to deepen its MASH pipeline. These deals signal a busy 2026 for the pharma industry.

Pfizer's acquisition of Metsera, a U.S.-based obesity drug developer, marks the company's return to the obesity space after scrapping its oral GLP-1 drug, danuglipron, earlier this year. The deal includes a non-transferable contingent value right (CVR) of up to $22.50 per share, contingent upon the achievement of certain clinical and regulatory milestones. The transaction is expected to be completed before the end of 2025 and will add four novel clinical-stage incretin and amylin programs to Pfizer's pipeline, including Metsera's lead candidate MET-097i, an injectable GLP-1 RA drug, according to The Globe and Mail.

Roche, the Swiss-based drugmaker, is acquiring 89bio for approximately $3.5 billion, including an upfront payment of $2.4 billion and $1 billion in non-tradeable CVRs. The deal will add 89bio's key pipeline candidate, pegozafermin, a novel FGF21 analog being developed in a late-stage program for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a fatty liver disease closely tied to obesity and diabetes. MASH is one of the most prevalent comorbidities of obesity, and the successful development of pegozafermin will provide a good revenue opportunity for Roche, the report noted.

Novo Nordisk, the Denmark-based pharma giant, announced plans to acquire Akero Therapeutics for $4.7 billion, plus $0.5 billion in non-tradeable CVR contingent payment tied to FDA approval of efruxifermin (EFX), Akero's lead pipeline candidate. EFX is an FGF21 analog being evaluated across several late-stage studies for MASH. The deal comes just a couple of months after Novo's blockbuster obesity drug Wegovy received the FDA's label expansion for MASH. Already one of the two leaders in the obesity market, Novo is now broadening its reach into adjacent areas like fatty liver, therapeutic fields that closely align with its existing diabetes and obesity portfolio, the same report added.

These deals suggest that Big Pharma is pursuing selective, innovation-driven biotech acquisitions rather than large-scale consolidation. The shift in therapeutic focus, moving away from oncology toward metabolic and cardio-metabolic diseases, indicates a stronger long-term growth potential. The recent drug pricing agreements between the Trump administration and major players like AstraZeneca and Pfizer have also prompted Big Pharma to redirect capital toward manufacturing and R&D expansion in the United States. This could lead to less capital available for large-scale acquisitions in 2026, potentially favoring collaboration and licensing agreements over outright takeovers, the article observed.