Lilly’s cautious entry into in vivo Car-T

Like AbbVie before it Lilly has seen enough promise in in vivo Car-T therapy to buy a private biotech with such expertise. Also like AbbVie, it appears insufficiently convinced by the technology’s use in oncology. Monday’s deal, in which Lilly acquired Orna Therapeutics for an undisclosed amount said to total “up to” $2.4bn including milestones, is all about B cell-driven autoimmune diseases, the subject of Orna’s lead anti-CD19 Car project, with no mention of cancer. In oncology, Orna had been developing a bispecific anti-CD19 x BCMA in vivo Car, alongside Simnova Biotherapeutics, and had hoped to put this into the clinic this year. Last June AbbVie paid $2.1bn for Capstan, an in vivo Car-T company with an oncology presence, in a deal whose primary focus was autoimmune disease. That said, AbbVie has a separate interest in in vivo Car-T – an option over Umoja’s B-cell cancer project UB-VV111 – and Lilly might yet decide to go forward with the CD19 x BCMA bispecific, or license it to another entity. Other companies that have acquired in vivo Car-T assets include Bristol Myers Squibb (also with an autoimmune disease focus), Gilead and AstraZeneca, and the field has seen numerous clinical trial entrants.

Acquisitions of in vivo Car-T companies

Notes: *$2.4bn biodollar amount; **lead focus of autoimmune disease. Source: OncologyPipeline.