© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: An Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical manufacturing plant is pictured at 50 ImClone Drive in Branchburg, New Jersey, March 5, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Segar
(Reuters) -Eli Lilly and Co will acquire genetic medicine developer Akouos Inc for about $487 million in cash as the drugmaker aims to bolster its arsenal of gene therapies that target a range of disabilities.
Shares of Akouos, which is developing gene therapies for sensorineural hearing loss, soared 84% to trade 40 cents above Lilly’s offer price of $12.50 before the opening bell.
The deal also includes a payment of $3 per share contingent on certain events related to drug trials and has the potential to increase the transaction size to $610 million, the companies said on Tuesday.
Eli Lilly (NYSE:) has been striving to build its pipeline of gene therapies, following the acquisition of Prevail Therapeutics (NASDAQ:) Inc for $1 billion last year.
It announced a $700 million investment in a new research hub in Boston, Massachusetts earlier this year that focuses on developing gene therapies.