Eli Lilly to acquire Kelonia Therapeutics in up to $7 billion deal

Eli Lilly has agreed to acquire Kelonia Therapeutics, a Boston-based developer of gene therapies for cancer treatment, in a deal that could reach $7 billion. The transaction represents the largest acquisition of a venture-backed biotech company in years according to industry data. The pharmaceutical company will pay $3.25 billion upfront with potential additional payments of up to $3.75 billion tied to clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones. Kelonia focuses on in vivo gene therapies that reprogram patients' T-cells inside the body to attack cancer. Kelonia launched from stealth mode just four years ago with $50 million in Series A funding led by Alta Partners, Horizons Ventures and Venrock. The company entered a research partnership two years later with Xyphos Biosciences, a subsidiary of Japan's Astellas Pharma, to develop immuno-oncology therapeutics using its gene placement system. The acquisition highlights growing interest in in vivo therapeutic approaches that offer simpler "off-the-shelf" treatment formats compared to current CAR T-cell therapies. Kelonia's platform has shown promising results in clinical trials targeting multiple myeloma. Lilly's purchase continues a trend of major pharmaceutical companies acquiring startups in the in vivo therapy space. Just two months ago, Lilly acquired Orna Therapeutics for up to $2.4 billion. That Cambridge-based company had raised over $320 million in venture funding for its work engineering immune cells in vivo. Last June, AbbVie purchased Capstan Therapeutics for $2.1 billion. The San Diego biotech had secured $340 million in funding for its RNA delivery platform that enables in vivo cell engineering. In October, Bristol-Myers Squibb acquired Orbital Therapeutics for $1.5 billion to access its RNA medicines that reprogram the immune system in vivo. The Kelonia deal dwarfs these earlier transactions in the rapidly growing field. The acquisition price reflects confidence in Kelonia's pipeline and the broader potential of in vivo gene therapies to transform cancer treatment. Biotech companies developing in vivo approaches have attracted substantial investment and acquisition interest as pharmaceutical giants seek next-generation treatment platforms. The field represents a shift toward more accessible cellular therapies that can be administered without complex laboratory processing of patient cells.