Roche to Buy Obesity Drug Maker Carmot for $3.1 Billion (2)

Roche Holding AG agreed to pay as much as $3.1 billion for Carmot Therapeutics Inc., a developer of the new type of weight-loss treatments that’s sparked a pharma industry gold rush.

The deal for three experimental medicines in obesity and diabetes could push the Swiss drugmaker into competition with European rival Novo Nordisk A/S, whose drug Wegovy has fueled the Danish pharma player’s growth into the most valuable company in Europe.

Roche, which has come under pressure to improve its pipeline with new medicines, agreed to pay $2.7 billion at first for closely held Carmot and up to ...