
Lilly eyes more cancer deals, but wary of CAR-T, gene therapy

Added 01-11-19 03:04:02pm EST - “Lilly Chief Executive Dave Ricks told Reuters that as the company looks for deals to enhance its pipeline of future treatments it will leave CAR-T therapies for cancer and gene therapy for rare diseases to others, for now. "The data…” - News.yahoo.com
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Posted By TheNewsCommenter: From News.yahoo.com: “Lilly eyes more cancer deals, but wary of CAR-T, gene therapy”. Below is an excerpt from the article.
(Reuters) - Eli Lilly and Co remains in the hunt for cancer drugs even after announcing an $8 billion purchase of Loxo Oncology this week, but it plans to remain on the sidelines when it comes to two of the hottest areas of drug development.
Lilly Chief Executive Dave Ricks told Reuters that as the company looks for deals to enhance its pipeline of future treatments it will leave CAR-T therapies for cancer and gene therapy for rare diseases to others, for now.
"The data is amazing, but practically, it's not reaching many people," Ricks said of CAR-T therapy, which involves extracting disease-fighting T-cells from a patient, re-engineering them to better recognize and attack cancer, and reinfusing them into the body.
Lilly on Monday said it would buy Loxo, which specializes in targeted cancer therapies, in the largest acquisition in the Indianapolis-based drugmaker's 143-year history.
The move came on the heels of Bristol-Myers Squibb's proposed $74 billion purchase of Celgene Corp, raising expectations for more large-scale deals in the industry this year.
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