Novo Nordisk on Thursday launched an unsolicited bid valued at up to $9 billion for obesity-drug developer Metsera, hoping to top the deal Pfizer reached last month and teeing up a potential legal battle for the biotech company.

The bidding may signal a new phase in the obesity drug race, which was ignited in 2021 by Novo's launch of Wegovy, the first highly effective obesity drug approved in the U.S.

Eli Lily beating estimates and boosting its full-year revenue guidance.