Lilly will purchase all the outstanding shares of Sigilon at a price of $14.92 per share, which amounts to aggregate of around $34.6m, and issue one non-tradeable contingent value right (CVR) per share, worth an additional $111.64 per share
Lilly to acquire Sigilon Therapeutics. (Credit: Roberto Sorin on Unsplash)
Eli Lilly and Co. (Lilly) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the remaining stake in Sigilon Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on acute and chronic diseases.
The agreement builds on the existing collaboration between Sigilon and Lilly since 2018, to develop encapsulated cell therapies for the treatment of type 1 diabetes.
Under the terms of the agreement, Lilly will purchase all the outstanding shares of Sigilon at a price of $14.92 per share in cash, which amounts to aggregate of around $34.6m.
The US drugmaker will issue one non-tradeable contingent value right (CVR) per share, which enables the shareholders to receive up to an additional $111.64 per share in cash.
Closing of the acquisition is not subject to any financing condition and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023, subject to certain customary closing conditions.
Lilly group diabetes, obesity and cardiometabolic research vice president Ruth Gimeno said: “Despite significant advancement in treatment for people living with type 1 diabetes, many continue to live with a high disease burden every day.
“By combining Sigilon’s talent and expertise in cell therapy with the knowledge and skills of Lilly’s research and development teams, we will enhance opportunities to create innovative islet cell therapy solutions to improve the care of people living with diabetes.”
Sigilon is engaged in developing functional therapies for patients with a wide range of acute and chronic diseases, leveraging its Shielded Living Therapeutics platform.
It offers non-viral engineered cell-based therapies, designed to produce a wide range of therapeutic molecules for diseases such as diabetes.
The engineered cells are encapsulated using Sigilon’s Afibromer biomaterials matrix, which protects the cells from immune rejection.
Its cell-based therapies work by detecting blood glucose levels, restoring insulin production, and releasing insulin over the long-term.
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius served as legal counsel to Lilly, while Lazard served as lead financial advisor, Ropes & Gray as legal counsel, and Canaccord Genuity as financial advisor to Sigilon.
Sigilon CEO Rogerio Vivaldi said: “This agreement represents the culmination of the important work led by our research and development team to continue advancing SIG-002 at Lilly – the preeminent leader in the treatment of diabetes.
“As a person with type 1 diabetes and a treating physician, I am a passionate believer in the potential of SIG-002 and am very proud of our team’s accomplishments in developing and optimizing this product candidate using our novel platform technology.
“With deep industry expertise, Lilly is well-positioned to apply its industry-leading clinical and technical capabilities to harness the full potential of SIG-002 for the benefit of patients and their caregivers.”
Last week, Lilly has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Dice Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on immunology therapies, for about $2.4bn in cash.