Lilly aims to clean up in JAK inhibition

Lilly has already inked a couple of oncology buyouts this month, and the latest will see it take another crack at JAK inhibition. For an undisclosed upfront fee, the big pharma is acquiring Ajax Therapeutics for its type II JAK2 inhibitor, AJ1-11095. This approach is intended to provide deeper and more durable efficacy versus approved type I inhibitors like Novartis/Incyte’s Jakafi, and also to overcome resistance. Indeed, AJ1-11095’s global phase 1 trial is in myelofibrosis patients who’ve previously been treated with a type I inhibitor. Proof-of-concept data are due later this year, and presumably Lilly has seen promising signs. Ultimately Lilly, an existing Ajax investor, hopes the asset could be used in both the first and second-line settings, and plans to “rapidly” advance AJ1-11095 into registrational studies. Lilly already markets a JAK inhibitor, Olumiant, but for autoimmune disorders. The company was also developing a JAK2 V617F inhibitor, gandotinib, but halted that project; this mutant-selective approach is now being pursued by Incyte, Prelude and Eilean. In April, Lilly also bought the in vivo Car-T player Kelonia, and the dual-payload ADC specialist CrossBridge Bio; outside oncology, the group has picked up Orna and Centessa, the latter for $6.3bn upfront.

Lilly’s 2026 oncology acquisitions

Source: OncologyPipeline.