Lilly kicks off 2020’s biopharma M&A

Eli Lilly plans to acquire Dermira, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing new therapies for chronic skin conditions, for $1.1 billion.

The acquisition will expand Lilly’s immunology pipeline with the addition of lebrikizumab, a novel, investigational, monoclonal antibody designed to bind IL-13 with high affinity that is being evaluated in a Phase 3 clinical development program for the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in adolescent and adult patients, ages 12 years and older.

Lebrikizumab was granted Fast Track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December 2019. The acquisition of Dermira will also expand Lilly’s portfolio of marketed dermatology medicines with the addition of QBREXZA (glycopyrronium) cloth, a medicated cloth for the topical treatment of primary axillary hyperhidrosis (uncontrolled excessive underarm sweating).

“People suffering from moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis have significant unmet treatment needs, and we are excited about the potential that lebrikizumab has to help these patients,” said Patrik Jonsson, Lilly senior vice president and president of Lilly Bio-Medicines “The acquisition of Dermira is consistent with Lilly’s strategy to augment our own internal research by acquiring clinical phase assets in our core therapeutic areas and leveraging our development expertise and commercial infrastructure to bring new medicines to patients. This acquisition provides an opportunity to add a promising Phase 3 immunology compound for atopic dermatitis, while also adding an approved dermatology treatment for primary axillary hyperhidrosis.”

“Since Dermira’s inception, we have been focused on applying strong science to medical dermatology with the goal of finding new ways to treat some of the most common skin conditions that affect millions of people every year,” said Tom Wiggans, chairman and chief executive officer at Dermira. “We are pleased that Lilly has recognised the progress we have made and the opportunities for lebrikizumab and QBREXZA.”

The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2020.

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