Eli Lilly buys cancer biotech Kelonia for $3.25 billion to add gene therapy that builds immune cells without harvesting patient cells

Eli Lilly announced Monday it will acquire Kelonia Therapeutics for $3.25 billion upfront, with the deal closing in late 2026 pending regulatory approval. The centerpiece is KLN-1010, an experimental one-time IV infusion designed to treat multiple myeloma (a blood cancer) by generating CAR-T cells—immune cells engineered to hunt cancer—directly inside the patient's body rather than in a lab.

Unlike existing CAR-T therapies that require removing blood from a patient, processing it in a manufacturing facility for weeks, and putting it back, Kelonia's iGPS platform uses engineered viral particles to insert genetic instructions directly into a patient's cells in one sitting. Early Phase 1 results presented at the 2025 ASH Annual Meeting suggest this approach works, which would cut treatment time from 2+ months to a single infusion.

For cancer patients, this means faster access to cell therapy without the cost and logistical burden of personalized manufacturing. For Eli Lilly's shareholders, it signals aggressive expansion into gene therapy and oncology—the company also acquired Orna Therapeutics and partnered with Nvidia on AI drug discovery earlier this year—betting these areas will drive revenue growth as diabetes and weight-loss drug competition intensifies.