Eli Lilly to buy gene therapy developer Adverum in about $262 mn deal

Eli Lilly said on Friday it would acquire gene therapy developer Adverum Biotechnologies in a deal valued at up to $261.7 million, aiming to strengthen its pipeline with an experimental eye disease treatment. 

The deal will give Lilly access to Adverum's gene therapy candidate, Ixo-vec, and underscores the U.S. drugmaker's focus on such treatments. 

Lilly has offered $3.56 for each share of Adverum held, totaling about $74.7 million in cash. 

Shareholders may also get up to $8.91 per share in milestone payments, contingent on U.S. approval of Ixo-vec within seven years and achieving more than $1 billion in annual global sales within 10 years of deal close. 

 

This brings the total potential payout to $12.47 per share. 

Adverum shares closed at $4.18 on Thursday. They rose 7.7% to $4.5 in early trading. 

Ixo-vec is being studied in a late-stage trial as a one-time eye injection for wet age-related macular degeneration, or wAMD.

The condition is caused by the growth of abnormal blood vessels at the back of the eye, leading to damage and scarring in the area responsible for central vision. 

"Ixo-vec has the potential to transform wAMD treatment from a paradigm of chronic care with repeated intravitreal injections to a convenient one-time therapy," said Andrew Adams, vice-president of Molecule Discovery at Lilly. 

Earlier this year, Lilly agreed to acquire gene-editing startup Verve Therapeutics for up to $1.3 billion, eyeing one-time therapies for cardiovascular diseases. 

Lilly expects the Adverum deal to close in the fourth quarter.