Eli Lilly will invest nearly $4 billion to buy three vaccine developers. Why would she do that?

Eli Lilly, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies known for its weight loss and diabetes products, will buy three vaccine developers to expand its portfolio of drugs against infectious diseases, the corporation said in a statement. The deals will total nearly $4 billion, Reuters writes. The pharmaceutical giant, experiencing an influx of liquidity amid demand for its obesity drugs, is conducting a series of acquisitions: thus the company is diversifying its business and entering new therapeutic areas, including prevention of infectious diseases, the agency notes.

Eli Lilly will acquire Curevo, LimmaTech Biologics and Vaccine. Each of them specializes in different types of drugs: Curevo creates a vaccine against adult shingles, LimmaTech focuses on fighting bacterial pathogens, and Vaccine is developing a vaccine against Epstein-Barr virus, a highly prevalent and contagious infection, according to a press release.

"These acquisitions reflect our deliberate strategy to prevent disease at its source rather than deal with its consequences," said Daniel Ma. Skowronski, chief scientific and medical officer and president of Eli Lilly's research and development (R&D) division.

Curevo shareholders could receive up to $1.5 billion in cash in the deal with Eli Lilly - the amount includes an upfront payment and subsequent payments when the project team achieves certain milestones.

LimmaTech Lilly will buy the company for $780 million in cash, also including a down payment and interim bonuses.

The pharma giant is willing to pay up to $1.55 billion for Vaccine, an amount that also includes a fixed portion and payments for meeting clinical and commercial milestones.

In parallel with the agreement to acquire three companies, Eli Lilly has successfully tested a new drug candidate, - Verve-102. This drug was developed by Boston-based pharmaceutical firm Verve Therapeutics, which Lilly acquired in July 2025. It involves an experimental gene therapy and is designed to prevent premature coronary heart disease and hypercholesterolemia.

In April, Eli Lilly entered into an agreement to acquire another gene therapy developer, Kelonia Therapeutics, for a $3.25 billion upfront payment.

On the background of news about purchase of three companies shares of Eli Lilly grew on May 26 by 0.8%. As Barron's notes, the quotes reacted with restraint to the positive news flow, including successful tests of a new drug candidate. Investors realize that gene therapy trials are at an early stage, so it is too early to draw definitive conclusions about its effectiveness.

Nevertheless, Wall Street analysts, according to MarketWatch, are generally optimistic about Eli Lilly securities. The general estimation of experts on shares of the company is Overweight ("Above market"). From 33 strategists the overwhelming majority - 28 - recommend to buy securities of the company. Three more advise to keep Eli Lilly shares in the portfolio, two recommend to "sell" (ratings Underweight and Sell).

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor