Pfizer Races to Save Obesity Drugmaker Deal After Novo’s Bid (1)

Pfizer Inc. has four days.

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk A/S upended the US pharma giant’s deal to acquire obesity upstart Metsera Inc. Thursday morning with a rival bid that caused Metsera’s shares to surge more than 25%. Now Pfizer — which was one of seven bidders for the company before striking a deal in September for about $5 billion — has a very short window to trump Novo’s bid or walk away.

“They need to be very strategic in the next move,” Evan Seigerman, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, said. “The margin for error is increasingly shrinking. This ...