Eli Lilly to buy Kelonia Therapeutics for up to $7bn

(Sharecast News) - Eli Lilly said on Monday that it has agreed to buy Boston-based Kelonia Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering in vivo gene delivery, for up to $7bn in cash. Under the terms of the agreement, Lilly will make an upfront payment of $3.25bn, and subsequent payments upon achievement of certain clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones. The deal is expected to close in the second half of this year.

Kelonia has developed a proprietary in vivo gene placement system (iGPS ) that uses specially engineered lentiviral-based particles designed to efficiently and selectively enter T-cells inside the body, allowing the patient's own body to generate chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapies that can treat underlying disease.

The company's lead program, KLN-1010, is an investigational, one-time intravenous gene therapy that generates anti-B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) CAR-T cells, targeting the BCMA protein expressed on the surface of multiple myeloma cells.

Lilly said KLN-1010 could represent a transformative advance in the treatment of multiple myeloma by eliminating the complexities of ex vivo patient-specific cell therapy manufacturing, and pre-administration chemotherapy.

Jacob Van Naarden, executive vice president and president of Lilly Oncology and head of corporate business development, said: "Autologous CAR-T therapies have meaningfully improved outcomes for patients with various cancers, but significant manufacturing, safety, and access barriers mean that only a fraction of eligible patients actually receive them. Kelonia's in vivo platform has the potential to change that by delivering rapid, durable responses in a far simpler, off-the-shelf format.

"The early clinical data for KLN-1010 are highly encouraging, both as a potential step forward for patients with multiple myeloma and as proof of concept for Kelonia's platform. We look forward to working together with the Kelonia team to rapidly advance KLN-1010 to address patient need and recognise the full potential of their platform in other conditions where patients may benefit."