Eli Lilly has reached an agreement to acquire Kelonia Therapeutics in a deal valued at up to $7 billion, marking a significant commitment to the next frontier of oncology: "in vivo" gene therapy. Under the terms of the deal, Kelonia shareholders will receive an initial cash payment of $3.25 billion, with the remaining $3.75 billion contingent on the achievement of clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestones.
The acquisition centers on Kelonia’s work in CAR-T therapy, a field that has historically been defined by its logistical complexity. Traditional CAR-T treatments require a patient’s immune cells to be extracted, genetically modified in a laboratory to recognize and attack cancer, and then reinfused into the body. While effective for certain blood cancers, this "ex vivo" process is time-consuming, expensive, and difficult to scale.
Kelonia’s platform aims to move the laboratory work directly into the patient’s body. Their "in vivo" approach uses a single infusion to deliver genetic instructions that program the immune system to target cancer cells—specifically multiple myeloma—without the need for external cell processing. If successful, the technology could transform a bespoke, artisanal medical procedure into a more accessible and streamlined therapeutic.
With reporting from InfoMoney.
Source · InfoMoney
