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.

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).

Under the deal, Novo would pay Akero shareholders $54 per share in cash and 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.

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom and Mariam Sunny, Editing by Essi Lehto and Leroy Leo)

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