Eli Lilly has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Ventyx Biosciences, a biopharmaceutical company developing oral therapies for inflammation-mediated diseases.
Ventyx’ clinical-stage programmes are designed to target vital immune pathways, aiming to achieve greater safety and efficacy than current treatments. The company’s pipeline of small molecule therapies are aimed at treating inflammation in diseases with high unmet medical need, including cardiometabolic, neurodegenerative and inflammatory disorders.
Ventyx’ portfolio includes NLRP3 inhibitors that act to block inflammation. Multiple drugs discovered by Ventyx are currently in phase 2 development for recurrent pericarditis, Parkinson’s disease and inflammatory bowel disease.
Daniel M Skovronsky, chief scientific and product officer at Lilly and president of Lilly Research Laboratories, said: “There is increasing evidence that inflammation is a key driver of many chronic diseases. Ventyx’ clinical-stage pipeline addresses a critical need for better treatment options across diseases mediated by chronic inflammation.”
Raju Mohan, CEO of Ventyx, added: “Our portfolio of NLRP3 inhibitors modulate residual and chronic inflammation that is now recognised as a major risk factor in a host of neuroinflammatory, cardiometabolic and cardiovascular diseases. We believe that Lilly is an ideal strategic partner…to advance novel therapies that fill a vast unmet need for patients suffering from these debilitating diseases and disorders.”
The acquisition is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026. Under the agreement, Lilly will acquire all outstanding shares in Ventyx, making up around 10% of Ventyx’ outstanding stock.
The acquisition of Ventyx builds on Lilly’s existing research and development programmes in autoimmune and inflammatory disease.