Eli Lilly to Buy 3 Vaccine Developers
The New York Times • • business
Key Points:
- Eli Lilly announced plans to acquire three vaccine developers—Curevo, LimmaTech Biologics, and Vaccine Company—in deals totaling up to $4 billion, marking a renewed focus on vaccines.
- None of the acquired companies currently have market-ready products, with targets including shingles, staph infections, and the Epstein-Barr virus.
- The move comes as Eli Lilly, recently valued at $1 trillion due to strong sales of weight loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound, has been actively acquiring firms in various therapeutic areas.
- The vaccine industry has faced challenges under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with policy changes and a difficult funding environment impacting sales and development.
- Eli Lilly has a historic background in infectious diseases, including producing the polio vaccine in the 1950s, and is now revisiting this area after focusing on diabetes, cancer, and other conditions in recent years.