Eli Lilly acquires Sigilon Therapeutics to expand diabetes treatments

June 29 (Reuters) – Eli Lilly and Co ( LLY.N ) said on Thursday it will buy all the shares in Sigilon Therapeutics ( SGTX.O ) it did not own to gain access to experimental cell therapies that could provide long-term solutions for diabetes patients .

Lilly, a major supplier of diabetes drugs and insulin, owned nearly 8.44% of Sigilon shares as of March 27. It would pay $1[ads1]4.92 per share, or $34.6 million in upfront cash, for the rest of the company.

Sigilon shareholders will receive an additional $111.64 per share if they achieve certain developmental and regulatory milestones, Lilly said.

Shares in Sigilion rose more than eightfold in premarket trading to $34.48. The deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023, will give Lilly access to Sigilon’s proprietary cell therapy candidate being developed to treat type 1 diabetes.

The two companies have been partners since 2018, when Lilly paid Sigilon $63 million for a licensing agreement to develop cell therapies targeting type 1 diabetes and made an undisclosed equity investment.

Lilly’s portfolio of diabetes products contributed more than half of its total revenue in 2022.

Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar

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