Eli Lilly will spend about $2.4 billion to acquire Dice Therapeutics to create more drugs to fight autoimmune diseases.
The American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly has announced that it is preparing to acquire the biopharmaceutical company Dice Therapeutics. Eli Lilly hopes the $2.4 billion deal will help the company develop more drugs to treat immune diseases.
According to an official Press release of the two companies, Eli Lilly will purchase all outstanding shares of Dice through a tender offer. Already approved by both boards, the deal will cost $48 per share, for a total of nearly $2.4 billion. The deal also allows for a second merger for Eli Lilly to buy all shares of Dice not included in the tender offer. The second stage is subject to the successful closing of the tender offer, which depends on expected closing conditions, such as official antitrust clearance.
Terms of the Eli Lilly and Dice Agreement
The press release also sets out other terms of the agreement. For example, the deal allows Eli Lilly to choose whether the deal is an asset acquisition or a corporate merger. Additionally, according to the agreement, the transaction will likely close in the third quarter of 2023 as no financing conditions are required.
Speaking on the deal, Dice Therapeutics CEO Kevin Judice said the company wants its products to benefit from the resources presented by Eli Lilly. Judice also said there is great potential as the two companies embark on a “joint pursuit of scientific innovation”.
For Eli Lilly Executive Vice President Patrik Jonsson, the partnership between the two companies will significantly help people with related health conditions. Jonson said:
“Combined with its new technology and expertise in drug discovery, DICE’s talented workforce and passion for innovation will strengthen our efforts to improve the lives of people living with devastating autoimmune diseases. We welcome DICE colleagues to Lilly and together we can meet the challenges ahead by finding new treatments for patients with significant unmet medical needs.
Founded in 1876, Eli Lilly has developed medicines and diagnostics that help treat several diseases, including cancer and diabetes. Its portfolio contains drugs that address diseases in the areas of neurodegeneration, immunology, neuroscience and cardiovascular disorders.
Common Eli Lilly medications include Taltz and Olumiant. Taltz, a treatment for plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, earned Eli Lilly $2.48 billion last year. Olumiant, which treats rheumatoid arthritis, also had sales worth $830.5 million in 2022.
To develop its portfolio and expand its offerings, Eli Lilly is already investing in artificial intelligence (AI). The company is also investigating its benefits for drug discovery. Talk to Business Insider, Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks believes that AI has been “one of the most exciting technology movements” in some time. A spokesperson said the company is investing in machine learning and AI for several projects. Some of them include drug discovery, robotic press automation, natural language generation, and chatbots.
For drug discovery, Ricks also said AI would help Eli Lilly automate specific mundane business processes. According to him, this would help “increase human productivity”.
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Tolu is a Lagos-based cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast. He likes to demystify crypto stories to the essentials so that anyone, anywhere can understand without too much background knowledge. When not immersed in crypto stories, Tolu loves music, likes to sing, and is a movie buff.
