Lilly paid $3.25 billion upfront for Kelonia Therapeutics, with total deal value reaching up to $7 billion in milestones. Kelonia is private, so there’s no share price premium to cite. At $7 billion for a Phase 1 biotech, it’s clear the platform is doing the heavy lifting.
What does Lilly actually get? KLN-1010, a Phase 1 candidate targeting multiple myeloma via an anti-BCMA approach, is the lead asset. The real prize is iGPS, Kelonia’s in vivo gene delivery and integration platform. iGPS uses lentiviral-based particles to carry T-cells into the body; the patient then generates their own CAR T therapies. The goal: cut the complex ex vivo manufacturing and pre-treatment chemotherapy that make conventional CAR T so expensive.
Early data from an American Society of Hematology presentation last year showed the concept holds and tolerability was intact. BMO Capital Markets flagged “some impressive early responses,” though the bank also noted in vivo CAR-T “remains an unproven and risky area of development.” Gilead Sciences, AbbVie, and Bristol Myers Squibb are all in the same field.
The closest comparable is Lilly’s own February deal: Orna Therapeutics, bought for $2.4 billion, which brought an in vivo CD19 CAR-T program for B cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases. Kelonia’s anti-BCMA approach complements Orna’s CD19 work. Two targets, one delivery thesis.
Lilly is now Q1’s most acquisitive pharma, with three buyouts. Kelonia eclipses Centessa Pharmaceuticals, previously the largest at $6.3 billion.
The deal closes in the second half of 2026.
— Diana Kowalski