Eli Lilly to Acquire Sigilon Therapeutics

Eli Lilly (LLY) shares rose more than 1% on Thursday after announcing it will acquire Sigilon Therapeutics (SGTX) in an all-cash deal worth up to $309.6 million. Sigilon shares were up more than 500% following the news.

Eli Lilly will pay $14.92 per share or $34.6 million, along with $111.64 per share to shareholders if the company achieves specified regulatory and developmental goals.

According to the terms of the agreement, total compensation could jump to $125.56 per share or $309.6 million, if certain development, research, and regulatory goals are met. Shareholders of Sigilon would become entitled to receive contingent payments of $4.06 per share in cash upon first dosing of a specified product in the first human clinical trial, $26.39 per share in cash in the first human clinical trial for registration purposes, and $81.19 per share in cash upon receipt of the first regulatory approval of a specified product.

The acquisition could allow Eli Lilly to further its goals in developing treatments for acute and chronic diseases like type 1 diabetes. Earlier this week, Eli Lilly said a trial showed its experimental diabetes and obesity drug, Retatrutide, helped patients lose an average of up to 24% of their weight. That was more than competitor’s drugs like Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, which helped patients lose an average of 15%.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions, and builds on earlier partnerships with Sigilon. In 2018, Eli Lilly gave Sigilon $63 million upfront plus an equity investment to develop its “living therapeutics” into a functional cure. The investment was part of a $473 million agreement with Sigilon to fund the development of a new therapy for diabetes.