Indianapolis and South San Francisco:  Eli Lilly and Company to acquire DICE Therapeutics, Inc. in order to strengthen its immunological portfolio. DICE is a biopharmaceutical organization that uses its exclusive DELSCAPE innovation stage to foster novel oral therapeutic candidates, including oral IL-17 inhibitors as of now in clinical turn of events, to treat persistent sicknesses in immunology.

Lilly will pay $48 per share of DICE (approximately $2.4 billion) in cash—a 40% premium to DICE’s common stock 30-day volume-weighted average trading price—under the terms of the agreement, which has already been approved by the boards of both companies.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023, subject to the usual closing conditions, such as receiving the necessary antitrust clearance and the tender of most of the outstanding shares of DICE's common stock. There is no financing requirement for the deal. Any shares of DICE that were not tendered in the tender offer will also be acquired by Lilly by dint of second-step merger at the same consideration as paid in the tender offer if the tender offer is successful in closing.

After the deal closes, Lilly will use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to determine whether this is a business combination or an asset acquisition, as well as any related acquired in-process research and development costs. Following that, Lilly's financial results and guidance will reflect this transaction.

DICE’s two clinical assets—DC-806 and DC-853—reward Lilly the most. The chief player, DC-806, is an oral small-molecule antagonist of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-17 (IL-17) and is in the phase 2 trials for psoriasis. DICE used phase 1 outcomes to showcase a 43.7% decrease in psoriasis region and seriousness to guarantee the treatment had top tier potential.

In the interim, DC-853 is being created as a purported quick supporter to DC-806, meaning it ought to have further developed power and metabolic strength. In the second half of the year, a top-line readout from this IL-17 antagonist's phase 1 trial with healthy volunteers is expected. The organization is additionally considering expanding the treatment into signs not covered by DC-806, for example, hidradenitis suppurativa.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as Lilly's legal counsel. Centerview Partners LLC is the sole financial advisor for DICE, and Fenwick & West LLP is providing legal counsel.

Executive Vice President, Lilly U.S. Chief Customer Officer, said, “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. 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.”

CEO of DICE Therapeutics said, “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.”

According to TechSci Research, the acquisition of DICE Therapeutics, Inc. by Eli Lilly and Company will be a huge asset to the healthcare industry. This is Eli Lilly’s third most expensive acquisition followed by Loxo Oncology Inc worth $8.0billion in 2019 and ImClone LLC worth $6.5billion in 2008. Eli Lilly is devoted to vigorous research and development. The company invests significantly in discovery and launch of novel drugs aiming to fetch a remedy to the world’s most pressing healthcare challenges. Furthermore, the company is operating in over 125 countries with a prominent presence in India and China. The acquisition of DICE’s pipeline IL-17 inhibitors will aid Lilly establish a position in the immunological industry worldwide. Lilly has fallen behind its rivals in the immunology market, which has seen the rise of numerous breakthrough drugs, in recent years. In 2021, it established an immunology business unit, supported by medications for ulcerative colitis such as Omvoh (mirikizumab) and atopic dermatitis such as lebrikizumab. Smart immunology maneuvers could assist Lilly in closing the gap between itself and other key players like Johnson & Johnson, with two of its upcoming drug launches (donanemab for Alzheimer’s disease and lebrikizumab for dermatitis (atopic eczema)) already predicted to be blockbusters by 2028. Lilly made an effort to develop its own oral IL-17 drug but was in vain. This bet on DICE’s IL-17 will help Lilly gain DICE’s principal drug DC-806 which is an oral pill currently in the mid-stage trial for the treatment of psoriasis.