NEW YORK– Metsera, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company accelerating the next generation of medicines for obesity and metabolic diseases, today announced the close of a $215 million Series B financing to further advance its portfolio of highly differentiated, clinical-stage, Nutrient-Stimulated Hormone (NuSH) analog peptides.
Wellington Management and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners led the financing, with participation from new investors including Fidelity Management & Research Company, Janus Henderson Investors, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and by T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Inc., Viking Global Investors, Deep Track Capital, and RA Capital Management. Existing Metsera investors, including ARCH Venture Partners, Alpha Wave Ventures, GV, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Newpath Partners, SymBiosis, and other undisclosed investors, also participated. Metsera has raised over $500 million to date.
Phase 2 trials of ultra-long acting, fully-biased injectable GLP-1 RA underway
Metsera recently reported significant and durable weight loss from the Phase 1/2 trial of MET-097i, a novel, fully-biased, potential once-monthly injectable GLP-1 RA engineered with Metsera’s HALO™ lipidation platform. MET-097i showed a 7.5% reduction in body weight from baseline at day 36 and a 380-hour half-life. Following this positive clinical data, Metsera initiated a randomized, 16-week Phase 2 trial of MET-097i in participants with obesity and overweight, with preliminary data expected in the first half of 2025. A 13-week randomized extension of the previously announced Phase 1/2 trial is also underway. If these trials are successful, Metsera expects to initiate Phase 3 trials of MET-097i shortly thereafter.
Ultra-long acting amylin analog clinical trial initiated
Metsera has initiated a single and multiple ascending dose clinical trial of MET-233i, an ultra-long acting injectable amylin analog designed for potential once-monthly dosing, in participants with obesity and overweight. MET-233i is the first of multiple next-generation NuSH analog peptides designed for combination and co-formulation with MET-097i, with matched solubility parameters and half-life. MET-233i and Metsera’s other next-generation NuSH analog peptides are also engineered with Metsera’s HALO™ lipidation platform.
Oral GLP-1 RA peptide program clinical trial initiated
Metsera has initiated a clinical trial of MET-002, an oral GLP-1 RA peptide. Metsera has developed its proprietary MOMENTUM™ platform to optimize oral delivery of NuSH analog peptides and is advancing multiple GLP-1 RA peptides with potential best-in-class bioavailability, and multiple potential first-in-class oral follow-on candidates targeting other NuSH pathways, to be developed alone and/or in combination with other NuSH analog peptides.
NuSH pipeline acceleration continues
Metsera continues to advance multiple candidates from its proprietary peptide library, built upon approximately 20,000 NuSH analog peptides and developed through twenty years of empirical biological research and advanced peptide engineering. These candidates include MET-034i, an ultra-long acting, HALO™ lipidated GIP RA, and candidates targeting other complementary NuSH pathways, including glucagon and PYY, as well as unimolecular multi-NuSH combinations. Metsera is also studying combinations of these candidates.
“We are excited to join a great investor syndicate to support Metsera’s differentiated portfolio of products for obesity,” said Nilesh Kumar, Head of Biotech Private Investments at Wellington Management. Nimish Shah, Partner at Venrock, added, “With an impressive management team, industry-leading peptide engineering capabilities, scaled manufacturing, and expert clinical execution, Metsera is positioned for significant value creation.”
“We are delighted to welcome our new Series B investors and thank existing investors for their continued support,” said Whit Bernard, Chief Executive Officer of Metsera. “Building on over twenty 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. We look forward to continued acceleration of our pipeline.”
