Eli Lilly and Company announced plans to acquire Orna Therapeutics, a biotechnology company engineering immune cells in vivo, on February 9th, 2026. The deal is valued at up to $2.4 billion, including an upfront payment and clinical milestone payments. According to a company press release, Orna’s lead candidate is ORN-252, a clinical trial-ready, CD-19 targeting CAR-T cell therapy in development as a treatment for B cell-driven autoimmune diseases.

Orna’s approach pairs engineered circular RNA with novel lipid nanoparticles, which is designed to allow the patient’s body to generate cell therapies that can treat the underlying disease. According to the release, experiments suggest that this circular RNA platform can offer more durable expression of therapeutic platforms.

“Early autologous CAR-T studies have shown the promise of cell therapy for patients with autoimmune diseases, but the complexity, cost, and logistics of ex vivo approaches make it challenging to deliver these breakthroughs to the broader population of patients who need them,” said Francisco Ramírez-Valle M.D., Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Head of Immunology Research and Early Clinical Development, in the release. “We look forward to working with Orna colleagues to potentially unlock an entirely new class of genetic medicines and cell therapies for patients who today have limited or no treatment options.”

“At Orna, we believe our circular RNA technology paired with our best-in-class LNP delivery platform have the potential to unlock in vivo CAR-T therapies for patients across a wide range of B cell-driven autoimmune diseases,” said Joe Bolen, Ph.D., CEO, Orna Therapeutics, in the release. “We are excited to join forces with Lilly, an industry leader in the development of patient-centric therapeutics to realize the full potential of these technologies.”