On April 20, 2026, Eli Lilly & Company (“Lilly”) and Kelonia Therapeutics, Inc. (“Kelonia”) announced an agreement for Lilly to acquire Kelonia in an all-cash transaction expected to close in the second half of 2026. Under the terms of the agreement, Kelonia shareholders will receive an upfront payment of $3.25 billion and a possible total of $7 billion dependent on the achievement of certain clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestones.
Kelonia, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, has developed a lentiviral-based system capable of delivering transgenes selectively to T-cells. This proprietary gene placement system, iGPS®, enables a patient’s body to generate chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR-T) in vivo for the treatment of cancer. Kelonia’s lead program, KLN-1010, an anti-BCMA (B-cell maturation antigen) CAR-T therapy, is currently being evaluated in a Phase I trial enrolling patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM).
Goodwin Procter is legal counsel for Kelonia in this transaction.