Oveporexton

Dive Brief:Eli Lilly is spending $6.3 billion to buy London-based Centessa Pharmaceuticals, betting on a portfolio of neuroscience medicines that could be part of the next big drug class in sleep disorders, the company said Tuesday.Per deal terms, Lilly will pay Centessa shareholders $38 a share, or roughly a 41% premium on the average trading price in the past 30 days. The pharmaceutical giant will offer up to an additional $9 a share to Centessa via a contingent value right based on Food and Drug Administration approvals of either of its two drugs in narcolepsy or related disorders, adding another potential $1.5 billion to the deal value.Centessa has two drugs in clinical-stage testing that stimulate a brain protein called OX2R, which promotes wakefulness. Their potential to transform treatment of sleep disorders like narcolepsy has other developers like Takeda, Eisai and Alkermes racing to get OX2R drugs to the market.Dive Insight:Flush with cash from its obesity franchise and boosted by a valuation that briefly ticked over the trillion-dollar mark late last year, Lilly has been a prolific dealmaker and committed billions to manufacturing in the U.S. and overseas. Several deals this year have focused on strengthening its pipeline of immune system drugs, such as the $1.2 billion buyout of Ventyx Biosciences, although it has also looked to nerve-related conditions like hearing loss.Acquiring Centessa addresses a blind spot in Lillys neuroscience research sleep disorders which RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams calls a nearly commercial, multi-billion dollar market. The race to bring to market drugs targeting OX2R, or orexin receptor 2, is led by Takedas , which is due an FDA decision on its medicine oveporexton in narcolepsy type 1 sometime in the third quarter.With the Centessa buyout, Lilly puts itself in a position to compete. Despite growing CNS exposure across depression, pain and neurodegeneration, [Lilly] has lacked a credible insomnia position a high-unmet-need category where orexin biology is driving differentiation, Abrahams wrote in a note to clients.Centessas lead drug is called cleminorexton, or ORX750, which has Phase 2 data in two types of narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia, with the start of pivotal trials expected soon. A second drug called ORX142 has completed Phase 1 studies in healthy people, and testing in patients is due to begin soon.Once-a-day dosing could help Centessas drug combat the first-mover advantage of Takeda, whose offering is taken twice a day. Abrahams wrote that a sleep disorder specialist he consulted suggested less frequent dosing would be preferable to aid compliance and tolerability, while efficacy was not a key driver of drug selection.The buyout helped boost shares of Alkermes by 18% in morning trading. The biotech has a drug at roughly the same point in development as Centessa, making it a potential buyout target.While some may say that this deal for [Centessa] validates that their molecule may be best-in-class, we think it's far too soon to call a winner, and more likely the [total market] for the category is bigger than investors are crediting with room for multiple players, wrote Stifel analyst Paul Matteis. '

iStock, Besiki Kavtaradze In the buyout, Eli Lilly picks up Centessa Pharmaceuticals’ lead asset cleminorexton, which could go toe-to-toe with Takeda’s oveporexton, currently under FDA review with a decision expected in the third quarter. Looking to further expand its expertise beyond the cardiometabolic and neurology arenas, Eli Lilly is taking over Centessa Pharmaceuticals and its pipeline of sleep disorder drugs—a move that could put the pharma in direct competition with Takeda. Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, announced Tuesday morning , Lilly will snap up Centessa for $38 per share or $6.3 billion upfront. The pharma has also offered a contingent value right that entitles stockholders to $9 more per share if the deal hits certain milestones, including one of two FDA approvals before a certain period of time lapses. This contingent offer could add $1.5 billion more to the total buyout value. Lilly and Centessa expect to close the transaction in the third quarter of 2026. The boards of directors of both companies have approved the deal. At the heart of the acquisition agreement is Centessa’s lead asset cleminorexton, an oral orexin receptor 2 (OX2R) agonist being trialed for narcolepsy type 1, narcolepsy type 2 and idiopathic hypersomnia. Orexin is a key neuropeptide that regulates the sleep-wake cycle, according to the biotech’s website , in turn promoting wakefulness. Drugs that activate this pathway could help address excessive daytime sleepiness as well as improve attention, cognition and fatigue. In April 2025, Centessa released Phase 1 data showing that a 5-mg oral dose of cleminorexton delayed sleep by an average of 37.9 minutes compared to 15.3 minutes in placebo recipients, resulting in a “statistically significant” treatment effect of 22.6 minutes, the biotech said at the time. This readout “reinforces ORX750 as a potentially best-in-class OX2R agonist relative to competitors,” Leerink analysts wrote an April 7, 2025 note. Neuroscience Centessa’s Narcolepsy Drug Shows ‘Compelling’ Effect in Early Study Analysts at BMO Capital Markets said Centessa’s orexin receptor agonist has “best-in-class” potential for narcolepsy, putting the company in a strong position in the $15 billion market. April 7, 2025 · 2 min read · Tristan Manalac Read more With the Centessa pickup, Lilly will go toe-to-toe with Takeda, which is far ahead in the narcolepsy race with its late-stage oveporexton, also an OX2R agonist. In July 2025, Takeda announced that oveporexton significantly improved excessive daytime sleepiness, attention, quality of life, functioning and cataplexy in two Phase 3 studies. The FDA accepted Takeda’s approval submission for the candidate last month, with a decision out in the third quarter of this year. Also in the narcolepsy game is Alkermes, which in November last year announced that its own OX2R agonist alixorexton aced Phase 2 and would move into late-stage development. The drug improved wakefulness and eased daytime sleepiness in patients with narcolepsy type 2, according to results presented at the time. Neuroscience Alkermes Pushes Narcolepsy Program to Phase III With ‘Highly Competitive’ Mid-Stage Data Alixorexton’s Phase II performance sets it up for late-stage success, according to analysts at Truist Securities. Alkermes expects to launch a global late-stage program early next year for narcolepsy type 2. November 13, 2025 · 2 min read · Tristan Manalac Read more Aside from cleminorexton, Lilly will also come into possession of Centessa’s broader pipeline of OX2R agonists, which includes additional preclinical assets with therapeutic potential “across a broader range of neurological, neurodegenerative, and neuropsychiatric conditions,” the pharma said Tuesday.