Continuing a string of acquisitions this year, Eli Lilly said Tuesday it will buy non-opioid pain drug developer 4E Therapeutics.
The deal hands Lilly a pipeline full of experimental pain treatments that 4E says are designed to be non-addictive. The biotechnology company specializes in MNK inhibitors, which go after a variant of enzymes involved in a signaling pathway that translates information outside of the cell to its interior. Its lead asset, “4ET1103,” is in development for nerve damage-related pain and has completed an early trial in humans demonstrating safety.
Other drugs in 4E’s portfolio include experimental treatments for migraines and acute pain. The Austin, Texas-based startup raised just under $10 million across private funding and grants from the National Institutes of Health to advance its drug.
The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.
“Lilly’s clinical development, translational and global commercial capacity — and its deep commitment to tackling the challenges of chronic pain for patients — make it the right home for realizing the full potential of this work for patients,” said Ted Price, one of 4E’s co-founders, in a statement.
4E is the second non-opioid pain drugmaker acquired by Lilly in as many years. The Indianapolis pharma said last May it would buy SiteOne Therapeutics, which is making drugs that target sodium ion channels, in a deal worth up to $1 billion. But Lilly has also axed two pain drugs from its pipeline in that same timeline, illustrating the difficulties of pain drug research.
Lilly has picked up several other companies in buyouts this year, led by its $6.3 billion acquisition of Centessa Pharmaceuticals, which is developing sleep disorder medicines. Other targets have included genetic medicines, immune drugs and infectious disease vaccines as the company looks to spend the cash brought in from its wildly successful obesity franchise.
