Eli Lilly (LLY) Acquires Kelonia Therapeutics for Up to $7 Billion to Expand Oncology Pipeline

Eli Lilly has agreed to acquire biotech company Kelonia Therapeutics in a deal worth up to $7 billion, including $3.25 billion paid upfront and additional milestone payments tied to clinical, regulatory, and commercial progress. What Kelonia Brings Kelonia is developing in vivo CAR-T therapies — a next-generation approach to cancer treatment. Unlike current ex vivo CAR-T therapies (which require removing a patient’s T-cells, engineering them in a lab, and reinfusing them weeks later), Kelonia’s method reprograms the T-cells inside the patient’s body with a simple one-time IV infusion and no preconditioning chemotherapy. Lilly sees this as a potentially more convenient and scalable solution. The company plans to explore Kelonia’s platform for blood cancers and eventually solid tumors, signi...