Eli Lilly and Co. entered a definitive agreement to acquire DICE Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharma company that leverages its DELSCAPE technology platform to develop oral therapeutic candidates to treat chronic diseases in immunology, for approximately $2.4 billion. The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies.
 
Dice’s DELSCAPE platform is designed to discover selective oral small molecules with the potential to modulate protein-protein interactions (PPIs) as effectively as systemic biologics. Its lead therapeutic candidates are oral antagonists of the pro-inflammatory signaling molecule, IL-17, which is a validated drug target implicated in a variety of immunology indications. DICE is also developing oral therapeutic candidates targeting the integrin α4ß7 for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.
 
“In combination with its novel technology and expertise in drug discovery, DICE’s talented workforce and passion for innovation will enhance our efforts to make life better for people living with devastating autoimmune diseases,” said Patrik Jonsson, executive vice president, president of Lilly Immunology and Lilly USA, chief customer officer. “We welcome DICE colleagues to Lilly and, together, we can tackle the challenges ahead in finding new treatments for patients with significant unmet medical needs.”
 
Kevin Judice, Ph.D., CEO of DICE Therapeutics, added, “We’re eager to see our pipeline, including our oral IL-17 inhibitors, DC-806 and DC-853, benefit from Lilly’s resources and global reach and I’m excited by the prospect of watching these two talented teams in a united quest for scientific innovation. Our novel approach to discovering and advancing oral, small molecules against validated protein-protein interaction targets has even greater potential with Lilly’s industry-leading clinical development capabilities to get these medicines to patients suffering from autoimmune diseases.”