Blackstone is becoming a biotech bank

• It's a reversal of the industry's historical relationship between public and private markets — whereby private investors usually back biotech startups and then sell to Big Pharma once it comes time to run expensive Phase 2/3 clinical trials.

Zoom in: The investigational drug candidate is called berobenatide, and was acquired by Pfizer via last year's $9.8 billion takeover of Metsera.

• It could help Pfizer better compete with Eli Lilly and Novo in the booming weight management market.
• Blackstone's funding commitment runs through 2028, and the firm is eligible for earnouts based on U.S. regulatory approval and commercial sales milestones.

Go deeper, via 24/7 Wall St: "Pfizer has handed a large part of its obesity research bill to an outside investor .... What [Blackstone] gains is a return stream tied to drug risk, which does not move with buyouts or real estate."