STAT+: Kailera Therapeutics, an obesity drug startup, raises $600 million

Investors announced one of the biggest private financing rounds of the year for a biotech company Tuesday, pouring $600 million into obesity startup Kailera Therapeutics. 

Bain Capital’s private equity group led the financing, which also included Royalty Pharma, the sovereign wealth fund in Qatar, and the asset manager of Canada’s national pension plan. Several of Kailera’s founding investors also put more money into the company. 

The deal underlines the persistent heightened attention being paid to weight loss drugs, even after multiple years of activity and some clinical disappointments. Kailera’s Series B round was announced almost exactly one year after the startup launched with $400 million. It also comes shortly after Pfizer announced plans to buy another privately held obesity drug developer, Metsera, for $4.9 billion.  

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