Pharmaceutical powerhouse Eli Lilly & Co. will buy Boston gene therapy maker Kelonia Therapeutics for at least $3.25 billion, the companies announced Monday.
The acquisition will grant Indianapolis-based Lilly access to Kelonia’s blood cancer treatment called KLN-1010 that genetically modifies patients’ immune cells without requiring them to be removed from the body. The immune cells are reprogrammed to attack the cancer cells in a therapy known as CAR-T.
“The early clinical data for KLN-1010 are highly encouraging, both as a potential step forward for patients with multiple myeloma and as proof of concept for Kelonia’s platform,” said Jacob Van Naarden, executive vice president and president of Lilly Oncology and head of corporate business development.
The partnership will position Kelonia’s treatment approach to “broaden the reach of cell therapy beyond the current CAR-T landscape,” Kelonia CEO Kevin Friedman said in a statement. The companies plan to use the technology to eventually treat a wide range of cancers and other diseases.
Lilly will pay Kelonia $3.25 billion in cash, although Kelonia could get up to $7 billion for hitting certain clinical and commercial milestones, Lilly said in a statement. Kelonia has 62 employees, most of whom are based in Boston.
Lilly, booming from sales of its blockbuster Zepbound weight-loss injection, has been heavily investing in Boston-area biotechs in recent months. The Kelonia deal, which is set to close in the second half of 2026, will mark at least the third acquisition of a Massachusetts company by Lilly this year.
In February, Lilly announced plans to purchase Watertown biotech Orna Therapeutics for up to $2.4 billion. Orna similarly specializes in technology to turn a patient’s cells into cell therapies without removing them from the body. Orna hopes to use CAR-T therapies to treat autoimmune diseases.
A month later, Lilly announced it would acquire Centessa Pharmaceuticals, a narcolepsy drug maker with its US headquarters in Boston, in a deal worth about $6.3 billion.
Lilly has also entered into a number of partnerships with local companies to develop treatments for a range of conditions.
Boston biotech Nimbus Therapeutics is working with Lilly to develop a new oral obesity treatment in an effort to extend Lilly’s success in the obesity drug market. Nimbus is eligible to receive $55 million in the near term and up to $1.3 billion in total, pending certain development and sales milestones.
Lilly is also partnering with Cambridge firm Repertoire Immune Medicines to develop autoimmune disease therapies. As part of the deal — worth $85 million upfront and up to $1.84 billion total — Repertoire will develop up to three drug candidates and Lilly will lead the candidates through clinical development, manufacturing, and commercialization.
In 2024, Lilly opened a $700 million research and development center in the Fort Point neighborhood of Boston. At the time, the company said it planned to eventually employ about 500 workers there.
Marin Wolf can be reached at [email protected].
