Lilly to Acquire POINT Biopharma for $1.4 Billion

Eli Lilly and Co. and POINT Biopharma Global Inc. have announced an agreement for Lilly to acquire POINT, a radiopharmaceutical company with a pipeline of clinical and preclinical-stage radioligand therapies in development for the treatment of cancer.

Radioligand therapy can enable the precise targeting of cancer by linking a radioisotope to a targeting molecule that delivers radiation directly to cancer cells, enabling significant anti-tumor efficacy while limiting the impact to healthy tissue.

"Over the past few years, we have seen how well-designed radiopharmaceuticals can demonstrate meaningful results for patients with cancer and rapidly integrate into standards of care, yet the field remains in the early days of the impact it may ultimately deliver," said Jacob Van Naarden, president of Loxo@Lilly, the oncology unit of Eli Lilly and Co. "We are excited by the potential of this emerging modality and see the acquisition of POINT as the beginning of our investment in developing multiple meaningful radioligand medicines for hard-to-treat cancers, as we have done in small molecule and biologic oncology drug discovery and development. We look forward to welcoming POINT colleagues to Lilly and working together to build upon their achievements as we develop a pipeline of meaningful new radioligand treatments for patients."

POINT's lead programs are in late-phase development. PNT2002 (partnered with Lantheus for exclusive worldwide rights excluding certain territories of Japan, South Korea, China, Singapore, and Indonesia) is a prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) targeted radioligand therapy in development for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) after progression on hormonal treatment. Topline data from this study are expected in Q4 2023. PNT2003 (with the same partnership previously mentioned in PNT2002) is a somatostatin receptor (SSTR) targeted radioligand therapy in development for the treatment of patients with gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs).

Beyond the late-stage clinical pipeline, POINT has several additional programs in earlier stages of clinical and preclinical development. The company operates a 180,000-sq.-ft radiopharmaceutical manufacturing campus in Indianapolis, as well as a radiopharmaceutical research and development center in Toronto. These facilities will be used alongside POINT's extensive network of supply chain partners for sourcing radioisotopes and their precursors.

"The combination of POINT's team, infrastructure and capabilities with Lilly's global resources and experience could significantly accelerate the discovery, development and global access to radiopharmaceuticals. I look forward to a future where patients all over the world can benefit from the new cancer treatment options made possible by the joining of our two companies today," said Joe McCann, CEO of POINT.

The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to close near the end of 2023.