Eli Lilly buys Kelonia for $7bn

Eli Lilly said on April 20 it will buy Kelonia Therapeutics for up to $7 billion in cash to expand its in vivo CAR-T cancer program. (lilly.com) The structure is $3.25 billion upfront, with additional payments tied to clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, Lilly said. (lilly.com) (reuters.com) Kelonia’s lead program, KLN-1010, is a lentiviral in vivo CAR-T therapy in Phase 1 for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, with data highlighted in a plenary session at the 2025 American Society of Hematology meeting, Lilly said. (lilly.com) Standard CAR-T treatment usually removes a patient’s T cells, engineers them in a lab, and sends them back weeks later. Kelonia’s pitch is to do that engineering inside the body with infused gene-delivery particles. (lilly.com) (biopharmadive.com) Kelonia says its iGPS platform uses engineered lentiviral particles to enter T cells in the body and insert genetic instructions that turn them into cancer-fighting cells. Lilly said the platform could have broader use beyond the first myeloma program. (lilly.com) (genengnews.com) Lilly is not entering this area cold. In February 2026, it announced a deal to acquire Orna Therapeutics to advance in vivo cell therapies, giving the Kelonia purchase the look of a second step in the same strategy. (lilly.com) (fiercebiotech.com) The attraction is partly logistical. Current CAR-T manufacturing can take weeks, requires specialized facilities, and can limit who gets treated; in vivo approaches aim to turn that into an off-the-shelf infusion. (cnbc.com) (pharmexec.com) Reuters reported Lilly is using the acquisition to deepen its oncology pipeline, while trade publications described the price as a bet on delivery technology as much as on Kelonia’s first drug. (reuters.com) (biospace.com) The close now depends on customary conditions. If Lilly completes the deal, it will own both Kelonia’s early myeloma program and the platform it hopes can make CAR-T less bespoke. (lilly.com)