Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) is to acquire Morphic Holding, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORF), a Waltham, MA-based biopharmaceutical company developing oral integrin therapies for treatment of serious chronic diseases.
Lilly will commence a tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Morphic for a purchase price of $57 per share in cash (an aggregate of approximately $3.2 billion) payable at closing. The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies.
The acquisition will enable Lilly’s immunology pipeline to expand its oral integrin therapies.
Led by CEO Praveen Tipirneni, Morphic is a biopharmaceutical company developing a portfolio of oral integrin therapies for the treatment of serious chronic diseases, including autoimmune, cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases, fibrosis, and cancer.
Morphic’s lead program is a selective oral small molecule inhibitor of α4β7 integrin for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that has the potential to improve outcomes and expand treatment options for patients. This molecule (known as MORF-057) is being evaluated in two Phase 2 studies in ulcerative colitis and one Phase 2 study in Crohn’s disease. Additionally, Morphic is developing a preclinical pipeline of other molecules for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, pulmonary hypertensive diseases, fibrotic diseases and cancer.
FinSMEs
09/07/2024