Dive briefing:
-
Eli Lilly is expanding its activities into radiopharmaceuticals and has signed a deal with Radionetics Oncology, giving the company an option to acquire the San Diego biotech company later for $1 billion.
-
Lilly will pay Radionetics $140 million up front for the options under the deal, which the companies announced Monday. Radionetics will continue to build its radiopharmaceutical drug pipeline through an “exercise period,” after which Lilly can choose whether to acquire the company.
-
Radionetics develops small molecule radiopharmaceuticals that can target G protein-coupled receptors, a ubiquitous family of proteins that represent many attractive disease targets. The company’s focus is on solid tumors.
Diving insight:
Radiopharmaceuticals, a targeted alternative to radiation therapy, have become an area of significant pharmaceutical investment. Major companies such as Lilly, Bristol Myers and AstraZeneca have made acquisitions to enter the sector, lured by technical improvements, clinical successes and regulatory approvals.
Historically, the drugs have been difficult to produce and deliver, requiring tightly managed supply chains to ensure the radioisotopes they contain do not decay. The surge in investment has helped expand biotech’s capacity.
Lilly has already been active in this space this year, paying $60 million in May to startup Aktis Oncology for the rights to develop treatments discovered by the company against targets selected by Lilly.
The biggest investment came last year, when it acquired Point Biopharma for $1.4 billion. The deal gave the company three clinical-stage candidates, including two that could compete with radiopharmaceuticals from Novartis. Those therapies, Pluvicto and Lutathera, generated more than $1.5 billion in sales for the company last year.
Radionetics spun off from Crinetics Pharmaceuticals in 2021 with $30 million to develop non-peptide radiopharmaceuticals for a “broad range of oncology indications.” The company raised a $52.5 million Series A earlier this year. The startup is backed by investors including 5AM Ventures, Frazier Life Sciences, DCVC Bio, GordonMD Global Investments, and by Crinetics Pharmaceuticals.
This story was originally published on BioPharma Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily BioPharma Dive newsletter.
