The technology worth billions to Lilly

Orna's in vivo treatment explained.

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Note to readers: Prognosis will publish its final edition on Feb. 13. On March 5, a new weekly newsletter, Health Monitor, will replace Prognosis for paying Bloomberg subscribers. If you are a subscriber, no action is required. If you are not currently a Bloomberg subscriber, you will stop receiving Prognosis and will instead receive Bloomberg's flagship Morning Briefing Americas newsletter, which offers a broader look at the day's most important news. To continue receiving dedicated health coverage and access more subscriber-only newsletters, explore a Bloomberg.com subscription. Hi, it's Gerry in New York. Eli Lilly is paying up $2.4 billion to buy a biotech company with a new approach to cell therapy. More on that in a moment, but first ...  Today's must-reads Novo is suing Hims & Hers for making obesity drug knockoffs. Critics fear that the FDA is reviewing treatment applications too quickly. Tech companies are facing trial over social media addiction claims. Why in vivo is in One of the most remarkable scientific breakthroughs in recent years has been the ability to manipulate a patient's cells or genes to potentially cure diseases. This cutting-edge form of medicine, called gene therapy or CAR-T therapy, has radically transformed the lives of many very sick patients, particularly those with blood cancer or blood disorders like sickle cell disease. But the first generation of these treatments came with some pretty big trade-offs. Now, new companies say they have found a way to avoid them, and they're attracting interest from deep-pocketed pharmaceutical giants. On Monday, Eli Lilly agreed to buy the biotech company Orna Therapeutics for up to $2.4 billion. Orna makes drugs that train a patient's own immune cells to fight autoimmune diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. Lilly was particularly excited about the way that Orna does that — an approach the industry calls in vivo, which is Latin for "in the living." Early iterations of cell and gene therapy have relied on an approach called ex vivo, where a patient's cells are removed from their bodies. These are sent to a lab, where they're modified, then sent back to the hospital and reinfused into the patient. This is expensive, time-consuming and complicated. A gene-editing treatment from Vertex Pharmaceuticals hasn't gained much traction, in part because of challenges around collecting the patient's cells. The ex vivo approach also takes a toll on patients, who must undergo toxic chemotherapy to make room for the new cells. The chemo can leave them infertile. It can also potentially cause cancer.  Orna uses a lipid nanoparticle — basically a ball of fat — to deliver circular RNA and send instructions to the body's immune system on how to fight a disease, avoiding the headache of collecting cells and editing them in a lab. The hope is that these immune-system treatments will be safer and easier for patients. Orna's lead drug, ORN-252, reprograms a patient's T cells, which help the body's immune system fight diseases.This approach has proven to work well in treating blood cancer, like multiple myeloma. More recently, scientists have found that so-called CAR-T therapy can also treat diseases caused by a person's immune system attacking their body. While these autoimmune disorders can cause painful symptoms, like joint pain and muscle weakness, patients might not be willing to try a therapy that could come with its own risks. Orna believes it can make that trade-off go away. And Lilly now has 2.4 billion reasons why that's worth betting on. — Gerry Smith Sign up for the Bloomberg Deals newsletter for the latest news and analysis on M&A, IPOs, private equity, startup investing and the dealmakers behind it all. What we're reading ApoB may be a better risk predictor than LDL cholesterol for heart disease, NBC News reports. Drinking caffeinated coffee or tea could lower dementia risk, the New York Times reports. People are using winter hibernation for plastic surgery, the Wall Street Journal reports. Contact Prognosis Health questions? Have a tip that we should investigate? Contact us at AskPrognosis@bloomberg.net. Follow us You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Prognosis newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, sign up here to get it in your inbox. Unsubscribe Bloomberg.com Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10022 |