2 minute read | July.20.2023
Eli Lilly and Company and Versanis Bio have announced a definitive agreement for Lilly to pay up to $1.925 billion in cash to acquire Versanis Bio, a privately held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing medicines to treat cardiometabolic diseases, including obesity.
Orrick represented Versanis’ three largest investors -- healthcare-focused investment firms Aditum Bio, Atlas Venture and Medicxi – on behalf of the majority stockholders of Versanis.
Versanis says it is transforming the treatment landscape for obesity and cardiometabolic diseases. Versanis’ lead asset, bimagrumab, is a monoclonal antibody that researchers are assessing as a novel treatment to help adults who are overweight or obese.
Aditum Bio, Atlas Venture and Medicxi are venture capital firms focused on biotech and life sciences.
Founded nearly 150 years ago, Eli Lilly creates medicines that help more than 51 million people across the globe.
The acquisition will help investigate potential new medicines to fight obesity, the companies said.
“We are extremely excited to be partnering with an experienced organisation like Lilly that will continue to develop bimagrumab in combination with its portfolio of incretins to improve patient outcomes in cardiometabolic diseases,” said Medicxi Partner Nick Williams.
"By unifying the knowledge and expertise in incretin biology at Lilly with the deep understanding of activin biology at Versanis, we aim to harness the potential benefits of such combinations for patients,” said Ruth Gimeno, group vice president, diabetes, obesity and cardiometabolic research at Lilly.
Dr. Mark Pruzanski, Versanis chairman and CEO, said: "It has been a privilege for our team to advance bimagrumab to address one of the greatest health crises of our time. As a global leader developing life-changing medicines, Lilly is ideally positioned to realize the potential of bimagrumab in combination with its incretin therapies to benefit people living with cardiometabolic diseases."
Orrick’s Albert Vanderlaan, Ryan Selis and Maureen Harmon advised Medicxi, Aditum Bio and Atlas Venture.
Medicxi news release
Aditum Bio
Atlas Venture
Eli Lilly news release