Eli Lilly to buy Boston’s Kelonia for up to $7 billion in cancer push

By Siddhi Mahatole

April 20 (Reuters) – U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly will buy privately held biotech firm Kelonia Therapeutics for up to $7 billion, gaining access to experimental cancer treatments as it bolsters its oncology pipeline.

The deal, announced on Monday, underscores Lilly’s acquisition push as it snaps up developers of inflammatory bowel disease, eye disorder and gene-editing therapies to reduce reliance on its obesity franchise amid fierce competition in the weight-loss drugs market.

The transaction is expected to boost Lilly’s cancer portfolio, which includes blood cancer therapy Jaypirca, breast cancer drug Verzenio and other oncology candidates under development, strengthening its position in the fast-growing but competitive cancer treatment market.

Global spending on cancer medicine is projected to reach $409 billion by 2028, from around $223 billion in 2023, according to data from IQVIA.

Boston-based Kelonia is developing a pipeline of genetic medicines focused on CAR-T therapies, which modify a patient’s immune cells to target and kill cancer cells.

One of its lead candidates, KLN-1010, is in an early-stage study for multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells that affects the bone marrow.

From an investor’s perspective, success in five years would be Kelonia’s lead product reaching the market, Bryan Roberts of venture capital firm Venrock and a member of Kelonia’s board, told Reuters.

He said Lilly’s decision to commit significant capital was a “testament to the data” and suggested the treatment could be best in class for multiple myeloma, with substantial market potential.

Unlike traditional CAR-T therapies, which require cells to be modified outside the body, Kelonia is pursuing an approach designed to generate the engineered cells inside a patient’s body.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Trung Huynh said “in vivo” CAR-T is viewed as the “holy grail” of cell therapy.

Under the deal, expected to close in the second half of 2026, Kelonia shareholders could receive up to $7 billion in cash, including $3.25 billion upfront and milestone-linked payments.

The upfront payment might appear steep, Huynh said, but the price is supported by the strength of the clinical data and competitive dealmaking in the sector.

(Reporting by Mihika Sharma and Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Gursimran Kaur, Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Tasim Zahid and Shilpi Majumdar)