Eli Lilly and Company and Versanis announced on July 14 a definitive agreement for Lilly to acquire Versanis. Under the terms of the agreement, Versanis shareholders could receive up to $1.925 billion in cash, inclusive of an upfront payment and subsequent payments upon achievement of certain development and sales milestones.
Versanis is a Boston-based, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of new medicines for the treatment of cardiometabolic diseases. Versanis’ lead asset is bimagrumab, a monoclonal antibody that binds activin type II A and B receptors to block activin and myostatin signaling.
Eli Lilly and Company is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with offices in 18 countries. Eli Lilly discovers, develops, manufactures and sells pharmaceutical products worldwide. Its products are sold in 125 countries. According to its 2022 FY report, the company made a revenue of $28.5 billion during FY 2022.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP is acting as legal counsel for Eli Lilly. Goodwin Procter LLP is acting as legal counsel, Cooley LLP is advising as to patent matters and J.P. Morgan is acting as financial advisor for Versanis. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
According to the LevinPro HC database, this acquisition is the 82nd Biotechnology deal of the year. This also marks Eli Lilly’s fifth deal of the year. Just last month, the company announced the acquisitions of DICE Therapeutics, Sigilon Therapeutics and an Lp(a) program from Verve Therapeutics.
