Lilly to Acquire Sigilon Therapeutics

Eli Lilly and Cambridge-based Sigilon Therapeutics have announced that Lilly will acquire Sigilon in a transaction worth up to $310 million. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions.

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.

“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 Sigilon CEO Rogerio Vivaldi. “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.”

Sigilon Therapeutics seeks to develop functional cures for patients with a broad range of acute and chronic diseases. Sigilon’s product candidates are non-viral engineered cell-based therapies designed to produce a wide range of functions or therapeutic molecules that may be missing or deficient in patients living with diseases such as diabetes. The engineered cells are encapsulated by Sigilon’s proprietary biomaterials matrix, which is designed to shield them from immune rejection. Sigilon was founded by Flagship Pioneering in conjunction with Daniel Anderson and Robert Langer of MIT. (Source: Sigilon Therapeutics Website, 29 June, 2023)