Eli Lilly is making big acquisition in an exciting new area of cancer biotechnology.
What’s happening:
- Eli Lilly has announced they are purchasing radiopharmaceutical company POINT Biopharma (NASDAQ: PNT) for $1.4B USD
- The acquisition marks Eli Lilly’s biggest bet yet on the radiopharmaceutical cancer space
Why it matters:
- Radiopharmaceutical treatments for cancer is a highly exciting area of biotech that has been attracting venture capital and public markets investment
- Pharma giant Novartis recently paid $40M to for exclusive licensing rights to German based 3B Pharmaceuticals for their radiopharmaceutical technology for cancer
- The deal between Novartis and 3B Pharmaceuticals allows the potential for 3B to earn $425M USD upon hitting certain milestones tied to royalties
Market reaction:
- Shares of POINT Biopharma rocketed up 85% on the news of the acquisition
How it works:
- Radiation therapy is a pillar of cancer treatments but since it is done externally it has numerous side effects from negatively affecting normal tissue in the body
- Radiopharmaceutical treatments for cancer is different because it aims to deliver radiation therapy directly to cancer cells
- Research shows that targeting cancer directly at the cellular level has the potential to drastically reduce short term and long term side effects of radiation treatments
Going deeper:
- Eli Lilly recently was a large investor in radiopharmaceutical cancer startup Mariana Oncology’s $175M Series B round
- Novartis already has two approved radiopharmaceutical drugs, including one for prostate cancer
