Eli Lilly (LLY) Stock Rises on Nearly $4 Billion Vaccine Acquisition Deals

TLDR

• Eli Lilly announced plans to acquire three vaccine developers — Curevo, LimmaTech Biologics, and the Vaccine Company — for a combined total of nearly $4 billion.
• Curevo is being acquired for up to $1.5 billion and is developing a shingles vaccine for adults.
• LimmaTech, focused on vaccines against bacterial pathogens including STIs, is valued at up to $780 million.
• The Vaccine Company, which is working on an Epstein-Barr virus vaccine, is valued at up to $1.55 billion.
• LLY stock rose around 1.3%–1.6% in premarket trading on the news.

Eli Lilly is spending nearly $4 billion to move into infectious disease prevention. The drugmaker announced Tuesday it has agreed to acquire three biotech firms: Curevo, LimmaTech Biologics, and the Vaccine Company.

Eli Lilly and Company, LLY

LLY stock was up around 1.3% to 1.6% in premarket trading on the news.

The three deals are structured with upfront payments plus potential milestone payments tied to clinical and commercial progress. Combined, they total up to approximately $3.83 billion.

Curevo is the largest of the three deals at up to $1.5 billion. The company has developed a shingles vaccine engineered with a synthetic adjuvant — designed to boost the immune response while reducing side effects compared to existing options.

The Vaccine Company comes in just behind at up to $1.55 billion. It is developing In Vivo Nanoparticle technology to target viral pathogens, with its lead focus on the Epstein-Barr virus — a highly contagious infection with no approved vaccine currently on the market.

LimmaTech rounds out the trio at up to $780 million. Its pipeline targets bacterial pathogens, including Neisseria gonorrhoeae and chlamydia trachomatis — pathogens where antibiotic resistance is becoming a growing clinical problem.

Funded by GLP-1 Success

Lilly’s acquisition spree is being bankrolled by the massive commercial success of its obesity and diabetes drugs. In Q1, U.S. revenue for Zepbound came in at $4.16 billion, while Mounjaro brought in $4.2 billion.

That cash has given Lilly room to expand well beyond its weight-loss franchise. These three vaccine deals follow a pattern of Lilly deploying capital into new therapeutic areas as it builds out a broader pipeline.

The company currently holds a 60.1% share of the U.S. obesity drug market, with rival Novo Nordisk sitting at 39.4%. Lilly also recently launched Foundayo, its newly approved GLP-1 obesity pill, in Q2.

Three Vaccines, Three Gaps in the Market

Each of the three targets a distinct area where approved vaccines either don’t exist or have room for improvement.

Shingles affects roughly one in three people in the U.S. over a lifetime. The Epstein-Barr virus infects an estimated 90% of adults globally and has been linked to certain cancers and multiple sclerosis. Bacterial STIs like gonorrhea are seeing rising resistance to existing antibiotic treatments.

Lilly has not disclosed the specific upfront payment amounts for any of the three deals, only the total potential deal values inclusive of milestones.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the deals on Tuesday morning before Lilly’s official announcement.

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