Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly is set to acquire obesity drug startup Versanis Bio for $1.93B in cash.

 

Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly is set to acquire obesity drug startup Versanis Bio for $1.93B in cash.  The transaction includes an upfront payment and future payments linked to certain milestones. With the Versanis acquisition, Eli Lilly will be able to strengthen its market position within the obesity drug domain. Versanis licensed bimagrumab from Novartis AG and is also researching its synergy potential with Novo Nordisk's obesity drug semaglutide.  Meanwhile, Eli Lilly is trying to get regulatory approval for its obesity drug Mounjaro and is also developing a promising drug, retatrutide.  The market for obesity drugs underwent a paradigm shift when regulators approved Novo Nordisk's Wegovy drug for obesity treatment.  "That has spurred a tremendous amount of innovation and competition in this space and Versanis was formed just in front of that to develop a completely differentiated mechanism," per Versanis' CEO Mark Pruzanski.