Eli Lilly has become the latest Big Pharma to buy itself a corner of the in vivo CAR-T space via the acquisition of Orna Therapeutics for up to $2.4 billion.
Massachusetts-based Orna has been using its engineered circular RNA platform to create a pipeline of in vivo CAR-T cell therapies led by ORN-252. Lilly described the CD19-targeting ORN-252 as “clinical trial-ready,” with the goal being to develop the therapy for B-cell-driven autoimmune diseases.
While Lilly is paying up to $2.4 billion in cash, the pharma didn’t divulge how much of this will be paid upfront and how much will be held back until certain clinical development milestones are hit.
Orna’s pipeline is based on combining engineered circular RNA with lipid nanoparticles to generate cell therapies within a patient’s body.
“Experiments to date suggest that Orna's circular RNA platform may deliver more durable expression of therapeutic proteins and therefore unlock treatments that are not feasible with current RNA or cell therapy platforms,” Lilly explained in a Feb. 9 release.
Today’s deal means Lilly will be the owner of a conveyor belt of in vivo CAR-Ts. The company said this “broad platform” will offer “long-term innovation in genetic medicine and in vivo cell engineering.”
The acquisition follows in the footsteps of the likes of Gilead Sciences, which bought in vivo CAR-T company Interius BioTherapeutics for $350 million and inked a deal with Pregene worth as much as $1.6 billion.
Meanwhile, fellow U.S. pharma AbbVie bought autoimmune-focused in vivo CAR-T company Capstan Therapeutics for $2.1 billion last June, while Bristol Myers Squibb bagged Orbital Therapeutics for $1.5 billion in October and AstraZeneca took on EsoBiotec for $1 billion nearly a year ago.
There were hints that Lilly was interested in following its peers as early as six months ago, when the company put the word out that it was recruiting a director of CAR-T biology.
“Early autologous CAR-T studies have shown the promise of cell therapy for patients with autoimmune diseases, but the complexity, cost and logistics of ex vivo approaches make it challenging to deliver these breakthroughs to the broader population of patients who need them,” Francisco Ramírez-Valle, M.D., Ph.D., head of immunology research and early clinical development at Lilly, said in this morning’s release.
“We look forward to working with Orna colleagues to potentially unlock an entirely new class of genetic medicines and cell therapies for patients who today have limited or no treatment options,” Ramírez-Valle added.
Orna launched in 2021 with $100 million in funds and a mission to bring CARs directly to patients’ immune cells. The company’s platform was based on research out of MIT by Alex Wesselhoeft, Ph.D. and Professor Dan Anderson, Ph.D.
Since then, Orna has bagged $221 million in series B funds, as well as penned collaborations with the likes of Merck & Co. and Vertex, and acquired RNA drug partner Renegade Therapeutics in 2024.
“At Orna, we believe our circular RNA technology paired with our best-in-class LNP delivery platform have the potential to unlock in vivo CAR-T therapies for patients across a wide range of B cell-driven autoimmune diseases,” Orna CEO Joe Bolen, Ph.D., said in a statement.
“We are excited to join forces with Lilly, an industry leader in the development of patient-centric therapeutics to realize the full potential of these technologies,” Bolen added.
Buoyed with Mounjaro cash, Lilly has been on a dealmaking spree over recent months, including buying gene editing partner Verve Therapeutics for $1 billion, inflammation biotech Ventyx for $1.2 billion and eye disease gene therapy company Adverum Biotechnologies.
The Indianapolis drugmaker has also said it wants to become “a backbone of the overall innovation ecosystem all around the world.”
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/lilly-buys-orna-24b-enter-vivo-car-t-arena
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