US pharmaceutical firm Lilly is re-entering the infectious diseases market in a big way with the acquisition of three companies at once.
The manufacturer announced on Tuesday the purchase of vaccine developers Curevo, LimmaTech Biologics and Vaccine Company.
The company, based in Indianapolis, stated that acquisition agreements had been finalized with all three firms. In total, the move could cost Lilly up to $3.8 billion.
The billion-dollar sum is payable in upfront payments and is conditional on the companies achieving certain commercial and clinical milestones in the development of their products.
This could see up to $1.55 billion go to Vaccine Company alone. The company is working on a vaccine against the Epstein-Barr virus, the pathogen responsible for infectious mononucleosis, using its proprietary technology.
The agreement with Curevo, whose lead clinical candidate is a vaccine against shingles, also provides for a similarly high acquisition sum.
LimmaTech shareholders could receive up to $780 million. Its most important product in development is a vaccine against a pathogen that can cause dangerous infections, particularly following surgery.
Lilly has developed or marketed numerous products against infectious diseases, including an antibody drug against Covid during the pandemic.
Recently, infectious diseases have been less of a focus. The group generates the bulk of its billion-dollar turnover from diabetes drugs and the highly sought-after weight-loss drugs that mimic the action of the gut hormone GLP-1.
