Eli Lilly to Buy Ajax Therapeutics for Up to $2.3 Billion -- Update

Published: 2026-04-27 07:51:22 ET LLY

Published on 04/27/2026 at 07:51 am EDT

By Colin Kellaher

Eli Lilly continued its recent buying spree, agreeing to pay up to $2.3 billion for Ajax Therapeutics in a deal that bolsters the drugmaker's blood-cancer portfolio.

Eli Lilly on Monday said Ajax is developing next-generation Janus kinase, or JAK, inhibitors for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms, a group of rare, potentially life-threatening blood cancers that occur when the bone marrow makes too many blood cells.

Ajax's lead asset, AJ1-11095, is an investigational, once-daily first-in-class Type II JAK2 inhibitor currently in a Phase 1 study in patients with myelofibrosis who have previously been treated with a Type I JAK2 inhibitor, Eli Lilly said.

JAK inhibitors are therapeutic agents that block Janus kinase enzymes to treat diseases.

Eli Lilly said that while the currently approved Type I JAK2 inhibitors provide clinical and symptomatic relief, many patients often discontinue treatment due to a lack of durable benefit or loss of response.

Ajax's AJ1-11095 was designed as a selective Type II JAK2 inhibitor to deliver deeper and more durable efficacy than existing JAK2 inhibitors and to provide a novel treatment option for patients who become resistant to Type I inhibitors, the Indianapolis company said.

Eli Lilly, which participated in a $95 million funding round for Ajax in 2024, said the $2.3 billion purchase price includes an undisclosed upfront payment and subsequent payments based on the achievement of certain clinical and regulatory milestones.

Eli Lilly's deal to buy Ajax adds to a recent spate of pharma acquisitions between $1 billion and $10 billion, including several by Lilly, that have become a sweet spot for companies seeking to bolster the work of their own labs or lineups.

Eli Lilly, which is flush with cash from sales of its weight-loss drugs, last week said it would buy privately held cancer biotech Kelonia Therapeutics for up to $7 billion in cash, including an upfront payment of $3.25 billion.

The company struck deals in the first quarter to buy sleep drugmaker Centessa Pharmaceuticals for an initial $6.3 billion, genetic-medicine biotechnology company Orna Therapeutics for up to $2.4 billion and biotech Ventyx Biosciences for about $1.2 billion.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [email protected]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-27-26 0750ET