Eli Lilly and Company announced the completion of its acquisition of Centessa Pharmaceuticals. Centessa is a clinical-stage company developing orexin receptor 2 agonists as a new class of medicines for the treatment of narcolepsy and potentially other sleep-wake disorders.
The acquisition strengthens Lilly’s neuroscience pipeline and adds clinical-stage programs focused on orexin biology. Orexin is a neuropeptide system involved in wakefulness, alertness, and sleep stability. Disruption of this system is closely associated with narcolepsy and may also play a role in other disorders affected by disrupted sleep.
Lilly said Centessa’s clinical portfolio provides an opportunity to explore the potential of orexin receptor 2 agonists across narcolepsy and other sleep-wake conditions with significant unmet need.
The completion of the transaction follows Lilly’s broader strategy of advancing treatments across major areas of medicine, including neuroscience, metabolic disease, immunology, and oncology. The company said it intends to pursue the potential of Centessa’s programs with urgency as part of its neuroscience platform.
Lilly is a global medicine company focused on turning science into therapies that improve outcomes for patients. The company’s medicines are used by tens of millions of people worldwide, and its research efforts span diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, immune system disorders, and difficult-to-treat cancers.
KEY QUOTES:
“The orexin system plays a fundamental role in human brain health, governing wakefulness, alertness, and the stability of sleep in ways that, when disrupted, can be profoundly disabling. For people living with narcolepsy, that disruption is severe and life-altering. Orexin’s reach extends further to diseases impacted by disrupted sleep, and so does the unmet need. Centessa has built a clinical portfolio with the depth to explore both, and Lilly intends to pursue that potential with urgency.”
Carole Ho, Executive Vice President and President of Lilly Neuroscience
