STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -Novo Nordisk said on Thursday it had agreed to buy Akero Therapeutics for up to $5.2 billion, giving the Danish drugmaker access to the U.S.-based company's experimental liver disease drug. The maker of blockbuster obesity drug Wegovy is pressing ahead with a sweeping restructuring in a bid to revive sales growth and fend off intense competition from U.S. rival Eli Lilly. Under the deal, Novo would pay Akero shareholders $54 per share upfront in cash, which represents a premium of about 16.2% to Akero's last close of $46.49 on Wednesday. The Danish drugmaker will also pay an additional $6 per share upon full U.S. approval of efruxifermin for treatment of compensated cirrhosis due to MASH by June 30, 2031, the companies said. Akero's shares rose over 19% in premarket trading. Novo's new CEO Mike Doustdar, who took the reins in July, last month announced the company would cut 9,000 jobs. Doustdar has said the company will retain a tight focus on developing the next generation of highly effective obesity and diabetes drugs, which can also be used to treat related cardiometabolic conditions such as MASH, rather than expanding into other disease areas. Akero's experimental drug, efruxifermin, is being studied in patients with severe scarring or cirrhosis due to a type of fatty liver disease known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). (Reporting by Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm, Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru and Maggie Fick in London, Editing by Essi Lehto and Leroy Leo)
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