Eli Lilly is making big acquisition in an exciting new area of cancer biotechnology.

What’s happening:

• Eli Lilly has announced they are purchasing radiopharmaceutical company POINT Biopharma (NASDAQ: PNT) for $1.4B USD
• The acquisition marks Eli Lilly’s biggest bet yet on the radiopharmaceutical cancer space

Why it matters:

• Radiopharmaceutical treatments for cancer is a highly exciting area of biotech that has been attracting venture capital and public markets investment
• Pharma giant Novartis recently paid $40M to for exclusive licensing rights to German based 3B Pharmaceuticals for their radiopharmaceutical technology for cancer
• The deal between Novartis and 3B Pharmaceuticals allows the potential for 3B to earn $425M USD upon hitting certain milestones tied to royalties

Market reaction:

• Shares of POINT Biopharma rocketed up 85% on the news of the acquisition

How it works:

• Radiation therapy is a pillar of cancer treatments but since it is done externally it has numerous side effects from negatively affecting normal tissue in the body
• Radiopharmaceutical treatments for cancer is different because it aims to deliver radiation therapy directly to cancer cells
• Research shows that targeting cancer directly at the cellular level has the potential to drastically reduce short term and long term side effects of radiation treatments

Going deeper:

• Eli Lilly recently was a large investor in radiopharmaceutical cancer startup Mariana Oncology’s $175M Series B round
• Novartis already has two approved radiopharmaceutical drugs, including one for prostate cancer