Novo Nordisk can reach MASH patients with the recent FDA decision expanding approval of its GLP-1 drug Wegovy to the treatment of moderate-to-advanced cases of the fatty liver disease. Now it’s acquiring Akero Therapeutics in a multi-billion-dollar deal that brings a late-stage drug candidate with the potential to help patients in the most severe stage of MASH.

According to deal terms announced Thursday, Novo Nordisk will pay $54 in cash for each Akero share, valuing the biotech at $4.7 billion. A contingent value right in the deal makes the Danish pharmaceutical giant responsible for paying an additional $6 in cash per share upon FDA approval of Akero’s drug, efruxifermin, for the treatment of compensated cirrhosis due to MASH. Achieving that goal would add another $500 million to the

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