Eli Lilly & Co. plans $3.8 billion company-purchasing blitz

Eli Lilly & Co. announced May 26 it would acquire three companies to build its portfolio addressing infectious diseases for a total of $3.8 billion. All three companies are aimed at increasing Lilly’s stake in research and development of anti-infectious-disease vaccines, the company noted.

The company plans to purchase Curevo, Inc., a vaccine company with a leading shingles-prevention drug, for $1.5 billion; LimmaTech Biologics, a pharmaceutical developer focused on developing vaccines against antibiotic-resistant strains of common bacteria, for $780 million; and Vaccine Company, a company developing nanoparticle therapies designing experimental vaccines that mimic durable immune responses seen after some viral infections, for $1.55 billion.

All three purchases are subject to closing conditions, Lilly noted, including a waiting period mandated by the Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976.

In a statement, Lilly’s head of research said the purchases are angled at improving Lilly’s offerings on preventative vaccines. Company leadership at Curevo, LimmaTech, and Vaccine Co. said the purchases have the potential to improve vaccines targeting shingles, the staph virus, and Epstein-Barr syndrome, respectively.

What people are saying

"These acquisitions reflect a deliberate strategy to prevent disease at its source rather than treat its consequences," said Daniel M. Skovronsky, M.D., Ph.D., chief scientific and product officer, and president, Lilly Research Laboratories. "Decades of evidence now link common infections to diseases that potentially emerge years later, including neurological disease, cancer and infertility. And as antimicrobial resistance erodes our ability to treat bacterial infections, vaccines are increasingly the only path to prevention. Combining these companies' platforms and teams with Lilly's global scale positions us to change that trajectory."

“Curevo is focused on improving the shingles immunization experience so more adults can benefit from protection against shingles, a serious disease with significant risk for long-term impairment of healthy living,” said George Simeon, chief executive officer of Curevo, Inc. “Lilly’s global development and commercialization capabilities will accelerate and expand upon amezosvatein's significant potential.”

"Joining Lilly is a powerful next chapter for our science and our team," said Franz-Werner Haas, LL.D., chief executive officer of LimmaTech. "Lilly's global development capabilities, manufacturing scale and long-standing commitment to patients with serious disease will enable us to accelerate our lead Staphylococcus aureus vaccine and to advance our preclinical gonorrhea and chlamydia programs."

"Our pipeline of programs, coupled with our proprietary In Vivo Nanoparticle (IVN) technologies, have the potential for global impact," said Susan Silbermann, MBA, MA, Chief Executive Officer of Vaccine Company. "Together with Lilly, we will be positioned to advance our science, move programs through development, and ultimately deliver vaccines to people around the world."