Pfizer’s Obesity Setback Puts Pressure on CEO to Make a Deal

The failure of Pfizer Inc.’s obesity pill, its highest profile experimental drug, raises the odds that the drugmaker will spend billions on an acquisition to break into the blockbuster weight-loss market dominated by Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly & Co.

Pfizer terminated development of its drug, called danuglipron, after one patient in a clinical trial developed signs of liver injury, it said in a statement. As a result, the company won’t advance the once-daily medicine into the final stage of testing, instead falling back on fledgling treatments as it slips further behind rivals in a market that’s key to its post-Covid comeback plans.