On April 21, 2026, U.S. pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly announced that it would acquire privately held biotechnology company Kelonia Therapeutics for up to $7 billion to gain access to its experimental cancer therapies and strengthen its oncology drug pipeline. The acquisition includes an upfront payment of $3.25 billion and subsequent milestone payments, and is expected to be completed in the second half of 2026. Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Kelonia focuses on the development of in vivo CAR-T therapies, with its lead product KLN-1010 being developed for the treatment of multiple myeloma and currently in Phase I clinical trials.
