Once again, Eli Lilly and Co. has signed a billion-dollar deal, this time with Boston-based Ascidian Therapeutics Inc., a company that is barely four years old and one that is focused on treating human diseases by rewriting RNA. “Our technology, we call it RNA exon editing,” said Ascidian Chief Scientific Officer Robert Bell. “It edits RNA, not DNA … but it does so at the kilobase scale.”
Less than two months after winning FDA approval for a second indication for Filspari (sparsentan), Travere Therapeutics Inc. added to its rare kidney disease pipeline by exclusively licensing civorebrutinib from Everest Medicines Ltd. in a deal that could be worth more than $1.14 billion.
Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. will pay $11.75 billion cash to acquire Organon & Co. The transaction is expected to close in early 2027. The addition of Organon’s women’s health products, legacy drug brands and biosimilars are expected to boost Mumbai, India-based Sun’s global reach. The all-cash buy is also expected to relieve Jersey City, N.J.-based Organon of an $8.6 billion debt pile, accumulated after its debt-laden 2021 spinout from Merck & Co. Inc.