Next-gen obesity biotech Metsera has filed to debut on the public markets, proposing an IPO nine months after emerging.
The New York-based company has yet to set expectations on the size of its proposed offering, according to a Jan. 10 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The biotech has applied to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker “MTSR.”
Metsera plans to use the IPO to fund a phase 3 trial of MET-097i—a subcutaneous GLP-1 receptor agonist that is the company’s most advanced asset—through topline results, according to the SEC documents.
Last week, the biotech linked the injectable candidate to weight loss of up to 11.3% after 12 weeks in a phase 2a trial. MET-097i also demonstrated a half-life of about 15 to 16 days, which Metsera believes is the longest of any NuSH analog peptide in development and improves upon than the reported half-life of tirzepatide (Zepbound), which is around five days, or semaglutide’s (Ozempic and Wegovy) seven days.
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The rest of the IPO proceeds will go toward “working capital” and “other general corporate purposes,” according to the SEC filing.
The biotech, which was founded by Population Health Partners and Arch Venture Partners, has several other earlier-stage assets in its pipeline as well, all of which are designed to expand access to therapies targeting obesity, overweight and related conditions. Metsera’s pipeline products are designed to reduce dosing frequency, boost tolerability and increase efficacy, according to the company.
The biotech launched in April 2024 with $290 million and CEO Clive Meanwell, M.D., at the helm. Then, in November, Metsera clinched a $215 million series B fundraise, with backing from Venrock, Arch, GV, and RA Capital Management, among others.
Metsera is of course not alone in the race to improve upon Novo Nordisk’s and Lilly’s approved obesity treatments. Just last week, Verdiva Bio unveiled with $410 million and a clinical oral GLP-1 agonist that could potentially offer weekly dosing.
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Metsera is also not the first biotech to file for an IPO this year, following kidney disease-focused Maze Therapeutics, which revealed plans for a public debut on Jan. 7.
