Roche pays $3.5bn for 89bio and its potential best-in-disease treatment MASH drug1 SHARESPosted: 18 September 2025 | Catherine Eckford (European Pharmaceutical Review) |The deal with the US biopharma could help address metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, one of the most prevalent comorbidities of obesity. Roche is set to gain rights to a potential best-in-disease metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) treatment by acquiring the US-based biopharma 89bio for up to $3.5 billion. Pegozafermin’s combined anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory mechanism could offer a new option for moderate to severe MASH patients (liver fibrosis (F2/F3 stages) and cirrhotic MASH (F4 stage). “More than 75 percent of those living with the condition experience comorbidities such as overweight, obesity, and type 2 diabetes,” based on research from 2024. The deal is expected to close in Q4 of 2025, when all of 89bio’s current employees will join the Roche Group as part of its Pharmaceuticals Division.