** Shares of drug developer Metsera MTSR.O rise 17.28% to $32.24 premarket

** Co says its experimental weight loss drug, MET-233i, hit up to 8.4% weight loss, on placebo adjusted basis, at 36 days in a small, early-stage trial

** MET-233i, a long-acting injectable monthly amylin analogue, is being developed as a standalone treatment and in combination with another experimental GLP-1 drug MET-097i

** The trial studied MET-233i in 80 participants with overweight or obesity without type 2 diabetes

** Up to last close, stock up 3.7% since it went public in January

(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru)

((Sriparna.Roy@thomsonreuters.com;))