Overview
- Multiple outlets reported Sunday that Lilly is negotiating to acquire Boston-based Kelonia for more than $2 billion, with a possible announcement as soon as Monday.
- Neither company has confirmed the report, and the Wall Street Journal said the talks could still fall through before any deal is announced.
- People familiar with the negotiations said the structure may include milestone payments tied to Kelonia hitting development goals.
- Kelonia is a clinical-stage biotech working on CAR-T cell therapy for multiple myeloma that reprograms a patient’s immune cells to target cancer and aims to avoid chemotherapy and bespoke cell manufacturing.
- The prospective deal aligns with Lilly’s recent dealmaking in oncology, and the rumored price far exceeds Kelonia’s roughly $100 million 2022 valuation after raising just under $60 million.