Eli Lilly Nears Deal for Cancer Biotech
Deal for Kelonia Therapeutics could come as soon as Monday
Eli Lilly LLY 2.55%increase; green up pointing triangle is in advanced talks to acquire Kelonia Therapeutics for more than $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
A deal could come as soon as Monday, assuming the talks don’t fall apart, the people said. The deal price could also include additional consideration if Kelonia reaches certain milestones, they said.
Privately held Kelonia is developing a next-generation treatment for the blood cancer multiple myeloma. Buying it would position Eli Lilly to boost its position in the lucrative blood-cancer segment of the $240 billion global cancer-drug market.
Kelonia has raised just under $60 million to date, with its last public valuation being a little over $100 million as of April 2022, according to data from PitchBook.
Kelonia is developing a next-generation so-called CAR-T therapy. CAR-T therapies deliver genes—or genetically altered cells—to help a patient’s immune system fight the cancer.
“We have something that is truly transformative to the space,” Kelonia Chief Executive Kevin Friedman said in an interview in January at an industry conference.
Patients usually have to undergo chemotherapy before they can get treatment. They also have to have their immune cells harvested. The cells are then sent to a lab, which reprograms them to attack the cancer before sending them back to be returned to the patient.
Kelonia’s technology promises to work without requiring patients to undergo chemotherapy or the bespoke manufacturing process that turns immune cells into cancer fighters.
The company’s multiple-myeloma treatment is still early in development. In January, Kelonia said the Food and Drug Administration had greenlighted early stage, or Phase 1, testing of the experimental treatment’s safety in up to 40 volunteers.
Cancer drugs are an important part of Lilly’s portfolio, accounting for $9.4 billion of the company’s $65.2 billion total revenue last year. It already has one blood-cancer drug, Jaypirca.
If Kelonia’s technology pans out, it would help Lilly add to its blood-cancer lineup and bolster its next-generation cancer offerings, and keep the company from having to depend too heavily on its anti-obesity and diabetes lineup.
Eli Lilly is flush with cash from sales of its weight-loss drugs and has been on a dealmaking spree. Last month, it struck a deal to buy Centessa Pharmaceuticals for an initial payment of about $6.3 billion to expand its neuroscience portfolio and capabilities into sleep medicine.
In February, Eli Lilly agreed to buy genetic-medicine biotechnology company Orna Therapeutics for up to $2.4 billion and in January said it would shell out about $1.2 billion for biotech Ventyx Biosciences and its pipeline of immune and neurodegenerative disease drugs.