Roche joins the pharma gold rush after buying an obesity drug for $3bn

Roche, which has come under pressure to improve its pipeline with new medicines, agreed to pay $2.7bn at first for closely held Carmot and up to $400m in milestones, it said.

Roche rose as much as 2.2% in Zurich trading. The stock is one of the worst performers among European peers this year. Picture: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg

Roche agreed to pay as much as $3.1bn (€2.8bn) for Carmot Therapeutics, a developer of the new type of weight-loss treatments that’s sparked a pharma industry gold rush.

The deal for three experimental medicines in obesity and diabetes could push the Swiss drugmaker into competition with European rival Novo Nordisk, whose drugs Wegovy and Ozempic have fuelled the Danish pharma player’s growth into the most valuable company in Europe.