Everyone flirted with 89bio. Only Roche wanted to put a ring on it.
In a financial filing, 89bio detailed the path from talks with numerous drugmakers to weeks of negotiations with Roche that ended in a deal worth up to $3.5 billion.
Over three years, 89bio entered into confidentiality agreements with 14 global and regional biopharmaceutical companies as it advanced its metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) candidate pegozafermin.
The simmering interest shown in 89bio throughout 2022, 2023 and 2024 turned into a rolling boil early in 2025, when the release of data on Akero Therapeutics’ rival drug candidate ignited a newfound excitement about FGF21 analogs. At the time, Roche told 89bio the Akero data were a positive indicator for the drug class and outlined plans to form a cross-functional team to explore a potential deal for pegozafermin.
Two other companies gained access to 89bio’s virtual data room in March. A fourth company received a confidential program overview in April but subsequently declined to proceed with further diligence on a collaboration with 89bio. The company was one of two drugmakers that dropped out of the race after talking to 89bio throughout April and May.
By July, 89bio had an offer from Roche—and confirmation that five other global biopharma companies had no plans to strike a deal. The five companies that turned 89bio down in July were among a total of seven, plus Roche, that the biotech spoke to in 2025.
89bio deemed Roche’s initial offer—$13 a share at a time when the stock traded at $10.22—insufficient to merit further talks about an acquisition. The biotech pitched a $20-plus offer to Roche. After visiting 89bio’s manufacturing facilities, Roche came back with an offer of $14 a share plus $2 a share tied to the first sale of pegozafermin for the treatment of stage 4 MASH.
With the offer falling short of 89bio’s $20 a share floor, further talks took place in August. Roche added more success-based payments and tagged 50 cents onto the upfront offer, bringing the potential deal value up to $19.50 a share. 89bio held out and days later received Roche’s “best and final” offer, which failed to address the call for a bigger upfront but did tweak the success-based payments.
The two sides continued to negotiate over the timing of the success-based payments, but the core of the deal was in place by late August. Roche had avoided going much above the $13 a share it initially offered and, through the success-based payments, 89bio had secured a total package that crept above the $20 a share targeted by its board.