Eli Lilly is in advanced talks to acquire Boston-based Kelonia Therapeutics for more than $2 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, in a move that would tuck Kelonia’s experimental in vivo CAR-T program into the Indianapolis drugmaker’s fast-growing oncology and gene-therapy portfolio. The talks have Wall Street leaning in, but details are still preliminary and neither side has formally gone public.
According to Reuters, the Journal described the negotiations as advanced, although Reuters could not immediately verify the account. The initial reporting cited a price tag north of $2 billion but did not include signed terms, and so far neither company has posted a confirming filing or press release about any transaction.
What Kelonia Makes
Kelonia is a Boston clinical-stage company working on an in vivo Gene Placement System (iGPS) that is designed to generate CAR-T cells inside a patient after a single infusion. The startup presented first-in-human Phase 1 data for KLN-1010 at ASH 2025, reporting MRD-negative responses in its first four patients, and it announced U.S. IND clearance for KLN-1010 earlier this year. Those early clinical results and regulatory milestones are the core technical assets that could make Kelonia appealing to a big pharma buyer. As Kelonia’s own materials explain, the approach aims to simplify access to CAR-T therapy while cutting down on some of the toxicities tied to ex vivo manufacturing and lymphodepletion. Kelonia laid out the data in its ASH presentation and related notices.
Why Lilly Might Pay Up
“KLN-1010 is beginning to reveal what may be possible with in-vivo CAR-T therapy,” Kelonia CEO Kevin Friedman said in the company’s release. The early readouts, which feature responses without preparative chemotherapy and a reportedly manageable safety profile, would line up neatly with Lilly’s existing investments in cell and gene therapies. Kelonia has also lined up industry partners, including a research and license deal with Astellas that came with upfront payments and sizable milestone potential, highlighting commercial interest in the iGPS platform. Kelonia describes the Astellas partnership and the financial terms tied to those programs.
Lilly’s Deal Run
Indianapolis-based Lilly has been active on the M&A trail this year as it looks to broaden its pipeline beyond metabolic medicines. In late March, the company agreed to acquire Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a transaction that could be worth up to about $7.8 billion when contingent payments are included, according to a company press release. PR Newswire framed that purchase as part of Lilly’s strategy to expand into neuroscience and other growth areas. The reported Kelonia talks would fit neatly into a pattern of buying platform technologies and clinical assets that can be folded into Lilly’s R&D engine.
As of the latest reports, neither Lilly nor Kelonia had published a definitive deal announcement, and regulatory filings would be the clearest confirmation that a transaction is complete. If a sale moves ahead, investors and regulators will be watching the clinical data, existing licensing arrangements and any integration plans closely. This story will be updated if Lilly or Kelonia issue formal statements or file required disclosures.
