Lilly Looks Beyond Obesity with Up-to-$2.9B Acquisition of Merida Biosciences

Eli Lilly has agreed to acquire Merida Biosciences, a Cambridge, MA-based biotech, in a deal valued at up to $2.9 billion, signaling Lilly's expansion beyond its obesity franchise. Merida develops biologic drugs engineered to selectively degrade pathogenic autoantibodies linked to several immune-mediated conditions. Its precision degradation approach aims to address the biological cause of these diseases, unlike many current treatments that broadly suppress the immune system.