Eli Lilly to Acquire Orna Therapeutics in up to $2.4 Billion Deal

Paul, Weiss is advising Eli Lilly and Company in its acquisition of Orna Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company dedicated to engineering immune cells in vivo. Under the terms of the agreement, Lilly will acquire Orna for up to $2.4 billion in cash, inclusive of an upfront payment and subsequent payments upon achievement of certain clinical development milestones. Orna is advancing a new class of therapeutics designed to allow the patient’s own body to generate cell therapies that can treat underlying disease.

The Paul, Weiss team is led by partners Krishna Veeraraghavan, Chelsea Darnell and Jeffrey Osterman, and includes corporate partner Benjamin Goodchild; intellectual property partner Meggin Bednarczyk; tax partner Scott Sontag; executive compensation partner Jarrett Hoffman; real estate partner Peter Fisch and counsel Ruobing Chen; and litigation partner Elizabeth Weiswasser and counsel Audrey Paquet.