Metsera, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative medicines for obesity and metabolic diseases, has announced the successful completion of a $215 million Series B financing round. The funding, led by Wellington Management and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, will accelerate the advancement of Metsera's portfolio of highly differentiated, clinical-stage, Nutrient-Stimulated Hormone (NuSH) analog peptides.
The financing round saw participation from new investors including Fidelity Management & Research Company, Janus Henderson Investors, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., Viking Global Investors, Deep Track Capital, and RA Capital Management. Existing investors such as ARCH Venture Partners, Alpha Wave Ventures, GV, and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 also contributed, bringing Metsera's total funding to over $500 million to date.
Clinical Programs to Benefit from Funding
The investment will primarily support the ongoing and planned clinical trials of Metsera's lead drug candidates. These include:
- MET-097i: A novel, fully-biased, potential once-monthly injectable GLP-1 receptor agonist (RA) engineered with Metsera’s HALO™ lipidation platform. Phase 1/2 trial results showed a 7.5% reduction in body weight from baseline at day 36, with a 380-hour half-life. A randomized, 16-week Phase 2 trial in participants with obesity and overweight is underway, with preliminary data expected in the first half of 2025.
- MET-233i: An ultra-long-acting injectable amylin analog designed for potential once-monthly dosing. A single and multiple ascending dose clinical trial has been initiated in participants with obesity and overweight. This is the first of multiple next-generation NuSH analog peptides designed for combination and co-formulation with MET-097i.
- MET-002: An oral GLP-1 RA peptide. Metsera is utilizing its proprietary MOMENTUM™ platform to optimize oral delivery of NuSH analog peptides. Clinical trials have been initiated to assess its potential.
Technology Platforms Driving Innovation
Metsera's HALO™ peptide lipidation platform enables peptides to bind simultaneously to albumin and a drug target, resulting in an extended half-life. This ultra-long half-life supports titration-free dosing, monthly dosing, improved tolerability, and improved scalability.
The MOMENTUM™ oral peptide delivery platform integrates multiple proprietary technologies to deliver therapeutic effects at dose levels substantially lower than competitive NuSH oral peptides, potentially unlocking injectable-like efficacy and tolerability with similar manufacturing scale advantages to non-peptide, small molecule approaches.
Leadership Perspective
"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."
