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Eli Lilly & Co. said Thursday it has agreed to acquire Sigilon Therapeutics Inc. in a deal worth up to $309.6 million, sending Sigilon’s stock up 550%.
The deal for Sigilon
SGTX,
which is expected to close in the third quarter, brings Lilly
LLY,
experimental cell-based therapies for patients with diabetes and other conditions. Sigilon, which specializes in acute and chronic diseases, has worked with Lilly since 2018 to develop encapsulated-cell therapies, including SIG-002, for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. “The goal of these therapies is to free patients from constant disease management by sensing blood glucose levels, restoring insulin production and releasing it over the long term,” the companies said in a joint statement.
This is the third deal in the past few months focused on diabetes-related cell therapies, Evercore ISI analysts wrote in a report Thursday, suggesting that “the road to insulin independence is very much on pharma’s radar.” Novo Nordisk
NVO,
and Aspect Biosystems in April announced a partnership to develop bioprinted tissue therapeutics designed as diabetes and obesity treatments. And in May, AstraZeneca
AZN,
and Sernova Corp.
SEOVF,
teamed up to research therapeutic cell applications in diabetes and other conditions.
Under the terms of the deal, Lilly will pay $14.92 per Sigilon share in cash, plus one nontradeable contingent value right per share that entitles the holder to receive up to an additional $111.64 per share in cash, for a total of up to $126.56 per share. The potential cash payments to CVR holders include $4.06 per share contingent on the first dosing of a specified product in the first human clinical trial; $26.39 per share upon the first dosing of a specified product in the first human clinical trial for registration purposes; and $81.19 per share upon receipt of the first regulatory approval of a specified product.
Eli Lilly shares were up 0.7% Thursday morning and have gained 26% in the year to date, while the S&P 500
SPX,
has gained 14% so far this year.
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