Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (AKRO)

Akero Therapeutics was a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on serious metabolic diseases, with a particular emphasis on metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, known as MASH and formerly called NASH. The company was founded in 2017 and was headquartered in South San Francisco, California. Its science was based on fibroblast growth factor 21, a hormone that regulates metabolism of fats and sugars in the liver and other tissues.

The lead candidate was efruxifermin, an engineered long-acting analog of FGF21 intended to be dosed once weekly. Efruxifermin was studied in patients with MASH across stages of liver scarring, including compensated cirrhosis, the most advanced stage before liver failure for which no approved therapy existed. Earlier trials reported reductions in liver fat and improvement in fibrosis, which attracted wide attention in the field.

Akero completed its initial public offering in June 2019 and listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol AKRO. As a pre-revenue company, it financed its development through equity offerings. Its late-stage program included Phase 3 studies across the spectrum of MASH fibrosis, and the company reported positive 96-week Phase 2b results in cirrhosis patients in early 2025.

The MASH market drew interest from large pharmaceutical companies after the first approved drug for the disease appeared in 2024. Competing programs included thyroid hormone receptor agonists and GLP-1-based therapies, and several large drugmakers were seeking pipeline assets in liver disease. Akero's data in cirrhosis set it apart from many peers and made it an acquisition target.

On October 9, 2025, Novo Nordisk announced an agreement to acquire Akero. Novo would pay $54.00 per share in cash at closing, plus one contingent value right per share entitling holders to an additional $6.00 in cash if the US FDA approves efruxifermin for compensated cirrhosis due to MASH within a specified period. The total consideration was valued at up to about $5.2 billion, including the CVR. The acquisition was structured as a tender offer followed by a merger.

Novo Nordisk completed the acquisition on December 9, 2025. Each Akero share not tendered was converted into the same cash payment and CVR, and Akero became a wholly owned Novo Nordisk subsidiary. A Form 25 was filed with the SEC that day to remove the common stock from Nasdaq, and trading under the AKRO symbol ended.