Eli Lilly Buys Cancer Drug Maker Kelonia for Up to $7 Billion

Drug giant Eli Lilly agreed Monday to buy cancer treatment company Kelonia Therapeutics for up to $7 billion in cash. This marks one of the biggest biotech deals of the year.

Kelonia is developing what scientists call "in vivo CAR-T" technology. This means they can reprogram a patient's T-cells (immune system fighters) while they're still inside the body to better attack cancer cells. Current similar treatments require removing cells from patients, changing them in a lab, then putting them back.

The deal started with reports over the weekend that Lilly was in talks to buy Kelonia for more than $2 billion. But the final price reached up to $7 billion, showing how valuable Lilly thinks this technology could be.

Lilly has been on a buying spree lately, using profits from blockbuster drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro to fund new treatments. The company wants to expand beyond diabetes and weight-loss drugs into cancer care.

Kelonia is still testing its treatments in early clinical trials, so any new cancer drugs are likely years away from reaching patients.