Eli Lilly is acquiring cancer drug maker Kelonia in a deal worth up to $7 billion

Eli Lilly The company said Monday it will acquire biotechnology company Kelonia Therapeutics in a deal worth up to $7 billion.

Lilly will pay $3.25 billion up front, with the remaining payments contingent on clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, she added. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026.

Kelonia is developing a technology to reprogram patients’ T cells within the body so that these cells can attack cancer, which is called in vivo CAR-T. Current treatments require that the work be done outside the body, or ex vivo, a process that involves harvesting cells, engineering them in the laboratory and then reintroducing them. Although this procedure is logistically intensive, it has been successful for blood cancers such as multiple myeloma.

“It’s a one-time intravenous treatment,” said Jacob van Naarden, president of Lilly Oncology and head of the company’s business development. “It targets T cells in the body, turns them on to attack cancer in the body, and requires no preconditioning at all.”

Johnson & Johnson The CAR-T treatment for multiple myeloma, Carvykti, generated $1.89 billion in sales last year. Gilead Arcellx recently acquired partner and rival to J&J’s drug, called anito-cel, for $7.8 billion.

Lilly’s van Naarden described the Kelowna data as “absolutely fantastic”.

“We will be a player in hematology,” he said. “It’s nice to have another drug to go to for those doctors who have a drug that can be used broadly, and it’s not just academic medical centers that can do personalized cell therapy ex vivo.”