Overview
- Lilly agreed Tuesday to buy Centessa for $38 per share in cash, a $6.3 billion deal that lifted Centessa’s U.S. shares about 45% in premarket trading.
- A non-transferable contingent value right worth about $9 per share could take the total to roughly $7.8 billion if FDA approvals hit set deadlines.
- Centessa’s lead candidates are orexin receptor agonists that switch on the brain’s wake system to treat narcolepsy and other daytime sleep disorders.
- Takeda has a competing orexin drug under FDA review, with some analysts not expecting a Centessa approval until 2028, a timeline that shapes CVR risk and market entry.
- Lilly also announced a $2.75 billion Insilico Medicine deal on Monday, signaling a push funded by Zepbound and Mounjaro sales to widen its pipeline.