Overview
- Novo Nordisk agreed to buy Akero Therapeutics for $54 per share in cash, or about $4.7 billion upfront, with an additional $6 per share payable if efruxifermin wins U.S. approval by mid-2031.
- Efruxifermin, an FGF21 analogue, is in the Phase 3 SYNCHRONY program across roughly 3,500 patients with pre-cirrhotic MASH and compensated cirrhosis, with key readouts expected next year.
- Novo said its 2025 operating profit outlook is unchanged, but it expects about a $4 billion reduction in 2025 free cash flow and higher 2026 R&D that would trim operating profit growth by around three percentage points.
- Company leaders describe efruxifermin as a potential cornerstone therapy that could be used alone or with Wegovy, which gained U.S. approval for MASH in August after Novo discontinued its own FGF21 candidate earlier this year.
- The deal is the third major 2025 transaction centered on FGF21 drugs for MASH, following moves by GSK and Roche, reflecting intensifying competition for a large liver-disease market.