Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) and Sigilon Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SGTX) announced a definitive agreement for Lilly to acquire Sigilon, a biopharmaceutical company that seeks to develop functional cures for patients with a broad range of acute and chronic diseases.
Since 2018, Lilly and Sigilon have worked together to develop encapsulated cell therapies, including SIG-002, for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. The goal of these therapies is to free patients from constant disease management by sensing blood glucose levels, restoring insulin production and releasing it over the long term.
"Despite significant advancement in treatment for people living with type 1 diabetes, many continue to live with a high disease burden every day," said Ruth Gimeno, Ph.D., group vice president, diabetes, obesity and cardiometabolic research at Lilly. "By combining Sigilon's talent and expertise in cell therapy with the knowledge and skills of Lilly's research and development teams, we will enhance opportunities to create innovative islet cell therapy solutions to improve the care of people living with diabetes."
"This agreement represents the culmination of the important work led by our research and development team to continue advancing SIG-002 at Lilly – the preeminent leader in the treatment of diabetes," said Rogerio Vivaldi, M.D., CEO of Sigilon. "As a person with type 1 diabetes and a treating physician, I am a passionate believer in the potential of SIG-002 and am very proud of our team's accomplishments in developing and optimizing this product candidate using our novel platform technology. With deep industry expertise, Lilly is well-positioned to apply its industry-leading clinical and technical capabilities to harness the full potential of SIG-002 for the benefit of patients and their caregivers."
Under the terms of the definitive 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 ("CVR") 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).
CVR holders would become entitled to receive the following contingent payments: (i) $4.06 per share in cash, upon first dosing of a specified product in the first human clinical trial; (ii) $26.39 per share in cash, upon first dosing of a specified product in the first human clinical trial for registration purposes; and (iii) $81.19 per share in cash, upon receipt of the first regulatory approval of a specified product. There can be no assurance that any payments will be made with respect to the CVRs.
The transaction is not subject to any financing condition and 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.
Lilly will determine the accounting treatment of this transaction as a business combination or an asset acquisition, including any related acquired in-process research and development charges, according to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) upon closing. This transaction will thereafter be reflected in Lilly's financial results and financial guidance.
For Lilly, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP is acting as legal counsel. For Sigilon, Lazard is acting as lead financial advisor and Ropes & Gray LLP is acting as legal counsel. Canaccord Genuity also acted as financial advisor to Sigilon.
