Eli Lilly has entered a definitive agreement to acquire obesity drugmaker Versanis for $1.93 billion — a move that will boost Eli Lilly's weight loss drug treatment portfolio.
Versanis is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company and currently has one experimental drug for obesity called bimagrumab, which is being studied in a phase 2 trial. It is a monoclonal antibody that aims to reduce fat mass by binding directly to cells in the body, according to a July 14 news release.
The drug candidate is being studied in adults who are overweight or obese and in a separate trial that compares it to Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic. Those treatments are known as GLP-1 agonists, or a class of medications that suppress appetite. Eli Lilly and Versanis said combining those therapies with bimagrumab "has the potential to further reduce fat mass while preserving muscle mass and may lead to better outcomes" for people with obesity and other cardiometabolic conditions.
Under the terms of agreement, Eli Lilly will pay Versanis shareholders an upfront payment in cash and subsequent payments if Versanis achieves certain "development and sales milestones."