Metsera is riding the wave of continued enthusiasm for GLP-1 drugs and its own early-stage data to bring in a hefty $215 million series B fundraise.
The biotech said it would use the cash to “further accelerate” a portfolio led by its GLP-1 receptor agonist MET-097, which was linked to a 7.5% reduction in body weight over 36 days in a phase 1 readout in September.
Metsera has now launched a 16-week phase 2 study of the injectable drug, with an initial readout due in the first half of 2025. A 13-week extension of the previous phase 1/2 trial is also ongoing, with the biotech already talking about its phase 3 plans should MET-097 clear those clinical hurdles.
The company has also brought two other obesity-focused assets into the clinic recently. They include MET-233i, an injectable amylin analog that is Metsera’s answer to the sector’s search for a once-monthly dosing weight loss option. There is also an oral GLP-1 RA peptide called MET-002, a product of Metsera’s platform for optimizing the oral delivery of NuSH analog peptides.
Today’s fundraise was led by Wellington Management and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, which joined previous backers such as Arch Venture Partners, Alpha Wave Ventures, GV, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Newpath Partners and SymBiosis.
New investors included the likes of RA Capital Management, Fidelity Management & Research, Janus Henderson Investors, T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Viking Global Investors and Deep Track Capital.
Founded in 2022 by Population Health Partners and Arch, New York-based Metsera had already raised $322 million before today, meaning the company has now brought in more than half a billion dollars.
“We are delighted to welcome our new series B investors and thank existing investors for their continued support,” Metsera CEO Whit Bernard said in the Nov. 12 release. “Building on over 20 years of research, in the past two years Metsera has constructed a leading portfolio, initiated a large-scale manufacturing partnership, and assembled a high-performing, agile team.”
“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,” Bernard added. “We look forward to continued acceleration of our pipeline.”