Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
Lilly makes fresh bet on IL-17 with $2.4B acquisition of Dice Therapeutics and its DELSCAPE technology platform for oral immunology treatments.
Announced June 20, 2023; $48/share cash (~$2.4B, 40% premium); lead asset DC-806 in Phase II; expected to close Q3 2023.
Lilly dropped lead candidate DC-806 in a Q3 2024 cull and shifted its oral IL-17 psoriasis focus to follow-up DC-853 (improved potency and metabolic stability).
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Eli Lilly agreed on June 20, 2023 to acquire DICE Therapeutics for $48 per share in cash (~$2.4 billion), a ~40% premium, to expand its immunology pipeline; the tender-offer-plus-merger closed August 9, 2023. DICE's DELSCAPE platform develops oral small-molecule alternatives to injectable biologics, led by DC-806, an oral IL-17 inhibitor for psoriasis and other inflammatory diseases. Post-close, the thesis shifted: in a Q3 2024 pipeline cull (disclosed Oct 2024) Lilly dropped DC-806 as its Phase 2 psoriasis program and pivoted to the follow-on candidate DC-853, engineered for higher IL-17A affinity and improved metabolic stability. DC-853 is now Lilly's lead oral IL-17 psoriasis program (Phase 2) and remained in active development as of early 2026, so the deal's value rests on the DELSCAPE oral-IL-17 franchise via DC-853 rather than the original DC-806 asset.
| Deal | Year | Value | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eli Lilly and Company / DICE Therapeutics Inc. (this deal) | 2023 | $2.4B | 49 |
| Eli Lilly and Company / Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH | 2011 | $444M | 89 |
| Eli Lilly and Company / Loxo Oncology, Inc. | 2019 | $8.0B | 88 |
| Eli Lilly and Company / Applied Molecular Evolution Inc. | 2003 | $400M | 88 |
| Eli Lilly and Company / ICOS Corporation | 2006 | $2.3B | 87 |
| Eli Lilly and Company / Novartis Animal Health | 2014 | $5.4B | 70 |
| Eli Lilly and Company / Incyte Corporation | 2009 | $755M | 69 |
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More: 2023 deals · Eli Lilly and Company deals · Dermatology deals