Eli Lilly announces $7-billion merger, with eye on wakefulness drugs

Eli Lilly announced Tuesday that it will acquire drug company Centessa for more than $7-billion.

The company specializes in drugs to treat daytime sleepiness and other neurological disorders.

Centessa is in the clinical stages of producing a new class of medicines to treat “impaired wakefulness” or narcolepsy.

A small portion of Americans suffer from narcolepsy, but the research could eventually be used to address sleepiness as a side effect of diseases like Alzheimer’s, which is a focus for Eli Lilly.

The biotech company Centessa has headquarters in Boston and London and does not yet have drugs on the market.

The deal nets Centessa $6.3 billion up front. If the U.S. ultimately approves Centessa’s drugs, Lilly will pay an additional $1.5 billion to the company.

Centessa shareholders still have to approve the merger. That move is not expected until later in the year.

A spokesperson with Eli Lilly declined to comment on this story.

Contact Government Reporter Benjamin Thorp at bthorp@wfyi.org