A roundup of news from Lilly, Lundbeck and Emergent BioSolutions. Highlights below.  

M&A News 
* Lilly To Acquire Sigilon Therapeutics for $34.6 M 
Appointments 
* Lundbeck Names New CEO & President  
* Emergent BioSolutions Announces CEO Transition   

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M&A News 

Lilly To Acquire Sigilon Therapeutics in $310-M Deal 
Eli Lilly and Company has agreed to acquire Sigilon Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based bio/pharmaceutical company, in a deal worth up to $310 million ($34.6 million upfront and one contingent value right per share for a total deal value of up to $309.6 million).  

Sigilon’s product candidates are non-viral engineered cell-based therapies designed to produce functions or therapeutic molecules that may be missing or deficient in patients living with diseases such as diabetes. Since 2018, Lilly and Sigilon have worked together to develop encapsulated cell therapies, including SIG-002, for the treatment of Type 1 diabetes. 

Under the agreement, Lilly will commence a tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Sigilon for a purchase price of $14.92 per share in cash (an aggregate of approximately $34.6 million) payable at closing, plus one non-tradeable contingent value right per share that entitles the holder to receive up to an additional $111.64 per share in cash, for a total potential consideration of up to $126.56 per share in cash without interest (an aggregate of up to approximately $309.6 million, excluding shares held by Lilly). 

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions, including that Lilly owns a majority of the outstanding shares of Sigilon’s common stock following the tender offer. Following the successful closing of the tender offer, Lilly will acquire any shares of Sigilon it does not already own through a second-step merger at the same consideration as paid in the tender offer. Sigilon’s Board of Directors unanimously recommends that Sigilon’s stockholders tender their shares in the tender offer. 

Source: Eli Lilly and Company 

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Appointments 

Lundbeck Names New CEO & President  
Lundbeck, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based bio/pharmaceutical company, has announced that Deborah Dunsire, the company’s current CEO and President, has chosen to retire, and the company has appointed Charl van Zyl, currently Executive Vice President and Head of Neurology at UCB, as new President and CEO. Dunsire will continue to serve as President and CEO until van Zyl assumes the positions no later than October 1, 2023. 

Prior to joining UCB, van Zyl worked for Eli Lilly and Company and Novartis and has been based in South Africa, the US, Japan and Switzerland. 

Source: Lundbeck 

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Emergent BioSolutions Announces CEO Transition 
Emergent BioSolutions, a Gaithersburg, Maryland-based specialty bio/pharmaceutical company and contract manufacturer, reports that Robert G. Kramer Sr., the company’s current CEO and President and current Board member, plans to retire, effective immediately (as reported on June 27, 2023). The company’s Board of Directors has appointed Haywood Miller, currently Managing Director at Berkeley Research Group, as interim CEO while it conducts a search to identify a new permanent CEO.  

Miller has served as an advisor to the company and its executive management team for the last several months (as reported on June 27, 2023). In order to ensure a smooth transition, Kramer will serve as an advisor to the company until August 1, 2023. 

Source: Emergent BioSolutions