BY Fraser Tennant
In a deal designed to strengthen its position in the fast-growing market for weight-loss treatments, US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly is to acquire biopharmaceutical firm Versanis.
Under the terms of the definitive agreement, Versanis shareholders will receive $1.925bn in cash, inclusive of an upfront payment and subsequent payments upon achievement of certain development and sales milestones.
“Eli Lilly is committed to investigating potential new medicines to fight cardiometabolic diseases, including obesity, a chronic disease that affects over 100 million Americans,” said Ruth Gimeno, group vice president, diabetes, obesity and cardiometabolic research at Eli Lilly. “By unifying the knowledge and expertise in incretin biology at Lilly with the deep understanding of activin biology at Versanis, we aim to harness the potential benefits of such combinations for patients.”
A private clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of new medicines for the treatment of cardiometabolic diseases, Versanis’ lead asset, bimagrumab, is being advanced in the BELIEVE Phase 2b study as a novel treatment to help adults achieve and maintain both fat loss and a healthy body composition.
Analysts expect the market for weight-loss drugs to reach up to $100bn within a decade, with early movers such as Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk acquiring a large portion of the market.
“It has been a privilege for our team to advance bimagrumab to address one of the greatest health crises of our time,” said Mark Pruzanski, chairman and chief executive of Versanis. “As a global leader developing life-changing medicines, Eli Lilly is ideally positioned to realise the potential of bimagrumab in combination with its incretin therapies to benefit people living with cardiometabolic diseases.”
The transaction between Eli Lilly and Versanis is subject to customary closing conditions.
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