April 27 (Reuters) – Eli Lilly said on Monday it would buy privately held blood cancer treatment developer Ajax Therapeutics for up to $2.3 billion in cash.
Ajax’s lead asset, AJ1-11095, is an experimental once-daily oral treatment that is in early-stage testing for previously treated patients with myelofibrosis – a rare, chronic blood cancer where scar tissue builds up in the bone marrow, disrupting normal blood cell production.
“We look forward to the presentation of clinical proof-of-concept data later in 2026, rapidly advancing AJ1-11095 into registrational clinical trials, and using our expertise in blood cancer to hopefully deliver another important new medicine to patients and hematologists,” said Jacob Van Naarden, president of Lilly Oncology.
Lilly said the total deal value includes an upfront payment and subsequent payments upon the achievement of certain clinical and regulatory milestones.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Devika Syamnath)
