USA — Eli Lilly and Co, the pharmaceutical giant based in Indianapolis, has unveiled plans to acquire Versanis, a privately held company, in a deal that could reach up to US$1.93 billion.
The acquisition aims to bolster Lilly’s presence in the rapidly expanding market for weight-loss treatments. Versanis, based in Boston, brings with it the lead asset bimagrumab, a monoclonal antibody currently undergoing phase 2 trials as a standalone therapy and in combination with semaglutide for overweight or obese adults.
Semaglutide, developed by Novo Nordisk and marketed as Wegovy for obesity treatment, is a GLP-1 receptor agonist classified as an incretin-based therapy.
The combination of incretins with bimagrumab presents the potential to further reduce fat mass while preserving muscle mass, potentially leading to improved outcomes for individuals living with obesity and obesity-related complications.
Lilly’s commitment to investigating new medicines to combat cardiometabolic diseases, including obesity, is evident in this strategic acquisition.
Ruth Gimeno, Ph.D., Lilly’s group vice president for diabetes, obesity, and cardiometabolic research, expressed the company’s dedication to leveraging the expertise in incretin biology at Lilly and the profound understanding of activin biology at Versanis to harness the potential benefits of such combination therapies for patients.
Obesity, a chronic disease affecting over 100 million Americans, remains a significant focus for Lilly’s research and development efforts.
Lilly recently released phase 2 data for its own incretin drug, retatrutide, demonstrating an average reduction in body weight of 24%.
These results outperformed data from currently approved medications such as Wegovy and Lilly’s Mounjaro, both of which are incretin drugs. While Lilly’s offering is approved for Type 2 diabetes, it has been used off-label for obesity treatment.
Versanis, established in 2021 and privately owned, was founded by biotech investment firm Aditum Bio, which created the company with the specific objective of developing bimagrumab for metabolic diseases and obesity following its licensing from Novartis.
Recognizing bimagrumab’s potential in the field of obesity, European life sciences investors Medicxi co-led a US$70 million series A financing round for Versanis in August 2021.
The acquisition of Versanis is just one of several moves by Lilly in a busy summer of mergers and acquisitions.
In June, the company made upfront payments of US$34.6 million to acquire Type 1 diabetes partner Sigilon Therapeutics and a staggering US$2.4 billion for IL-17-focused Dice Therapeutics.
The financial details of the upfront fee for Versanis have not been disclosed, making it challenging to compare this deal with Lilly’s recent spending spree.
A new side effect?
The announcement comes amidst news that the European Medicines Agency is investigating a potential link between certain diabetes and weight-loss drugs developed by Novo Nordisk and suicidal thoughts.
While Saxenda, an active ingredient called semaglutide, is associated with GLP-1 impact, it uses a different chemical composition compared to Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus.
The Icelandic Medicines Agency reported cases of suicidal thoughts and self-injury in patients using these medications.
The enthusiasm surrounding weight-loss drugs has led to a surge in the stocks of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.
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