Dice Therapeutics leverages the Delscape technology platform to develop novel oral therapeutic candidates, including oral IL-17 inhibitors to treat chronic diseases in immunology and other therapeutic areas
Eli Lilly and Co. corporate centre in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Credit: Momoneymoproblemz/Wikipedia)
Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Dice Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on immunology therapies, for about $2.4bn in cash.
Under the terms of the agreement, Lilly will place a tender offer to acquire all the outstanding shares of Dice at $48 per share in cash.
The purchase price indicates around a 40% premium to the 30-day volume-weighted average trading price of Dice’s common stock, which ended on 16 June 2023.
The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is not contingent on any financing conditions.
It is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of required antitrust clearance and tender of a majority of Dice shares.
Upon closing of the tender offer, Lilly will acquire the remaining Dice shares through a second-step merger at the same purchase price as the tender offer.
Lilly Immunology and Lilly USA executive vice president and president, Eli Lilly & Company chief customer officer Patrik Jonsson said: “In combination with its novel technology and expertise in drug discovery, Dice’s talented workforce and passion for innovation will enhance our efforts to make life better for people living with devastating autoimmune diseases.
“We welcome Dice colleagues to Lilly and, together, we can tackle the challenges ahead in finding new treatments for patients with significant unmet medical needs.”
Dice is a biopharmaceutical company that leverages its Delscape technology platform to develop novel oral therapeutic candidates to treat chronic diseases.
The Delscape platform is designed to discover selective oral small molecules with the potential to modulate protein-protein interactions (PPIs) as effectively as systemic biologics.
Its oral IL-17 inhibitors are currently in clinical development, to treat chronic diseases in immunology and other therapeutic areas.
The company is also developing oral therapeutic candidates targeting the integrin α4ß7 for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.
Kirkland & Ellis served as legal counsel to Lilly, while Centerview Partners served as exclusive financial advisor and Fenwick & West as legal counsel to Dice.
Dice Therapeutics CEO Kevin Judice said: “We’re eager to see our pipeline, including our oral IL-17 inhibitors, DC-806 and DC-853, benefit from Lilly’s resources and global reach and I’m excited by the prospect of watching these two talented teams in a united quest for scientific innovation.
“Our novel approach to discovering and advancing oral, small molecules against validated protein-protein interaction targets has even greater potential with Lilly’s industry-leading clinical development capabilities to get these medicines to patients suffering from autoimmune diseases.”