Eli Lilly and Company has agreed to acquire Orna Therapeutics, a bio/pharmaceutical company dedicated to engineering immune cells in vivo, for $2.4 billion. 

Orna is advancing a class of therapeutics using engineered circular RNA paired with lipid nanoparticles to allow the patient’s own body to generate cell therapies that can treat underlying disease. Orna’s lead program is ORN-252, a clinical-trial-ready, CD19 targeting in vivo chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy designed to treat B cell-driven autoimmune diseases.  

Under the agreement, Lilly will acquire Orna, and Orna shareholders could receive up to $2.4 billion in cash, inclusive of an upfront payment and subsequent payments upon achievement of certain clinical development milestones. 

Source: Eli Lilly and Company