STOCKHOLM, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk

said on Thursday it had agreed to buy Akero Therapeutics ( AKRO )

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.