NEW YORK – Eli Lilly and Point Biopharma Global said on Tuesday that Lilly has made a tender offer to acquire Point in a deal valued at $1.4 billion.
Under the terms of the agreement, which is expected to close near the end of 2023, Lilly would acquire all outstanding shares of Point for $12.50 per share in cash. The boards of directors for both Lilly and Point have already approved the deal.
In acquiring Point, Lilly will add a collection of both clinical-stage and preclinical radiopharmaceuticals to its pipeline including Point's prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted radioligand therapy PNT2002, which it is currently evaluating for previously treated PSMA-expressing castration resistant prostate cancer patients in the Phase III SPLASH trial. Top-line data are expected from this trial later this year.
Lilly also gains PNT2003, Point's somatostatin receptor (SSTR)-targeting radioligand therapy being developed for SSTR-expressing gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs), and PNT2004, a FAP-α targeted radiopharmaceutical being evaluated for FAP-avid colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, esophageal cancer, melanoma, and soft tissue sarcoma in the Phase I FRONTIER clinical trial. For PNT2002 and PNT2003, of note, Point has a licensing deal in place with Lantheus.
As part of the acquisition, Lilly will also be able to tap into Point's radiopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Indianapolis as well as its R&D center in Toronto and its network of supply chain partners for sourcing radioisotopes.
"We … see the acquisition of Point as the beginning of our investment in developing multiple meaningful radioligand medicines for hard-to-treat cancers, as we have done in small molecule and biologic oncology drug discovery and development," Jacob Van Naarden, the president of Eli Lilly's oncology unit, Loxo@Lilly, said in a statement.
Goldman Sachs is acting as the financial adviser to Lilly on the deal, and Kirkland & Ellis is acting as legal counsel. Point is using Centerview Partners as its financial adviser and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom as its legal counsel.