Novo buys Akero for $4.7B in third and largest deal in key liver disease class

Novo’s first major deal under new CEO Maziar Mike Doustdar is its planned acquisition of Akero, giving it an FGF21 program for MASH that effectively replaces a failed pipeline candidate that would have complemented approved therapy Wegovy in the indication.

Novo Nordisk A/S (CSE:NOVO B; NYSE:NVO) said Thursday it would pay $4.7 billion up front to acquire Akero Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO), giving the Danish biopharma FGF21 analog efruxifermin. The treatment is in Phase III testing to treat metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), also known as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)...