Eli Lilly is taking another shot at the pain market, continuing a recent M&A binge that shows no signs of slowing down.
In its latest deal, Lilly has acquired neuroscience startup 4E Therapeutics for an undisclosed amount, the Austin, Texas-based biotech said Tuesday.
The deal gives Lilly a pipeline of early-stage, non-opioid therapeutics designed for various types of pain management, including neuropathic pain, migraine and acute pain, according to 4E’s pipeline webpage, which has not been updated since 2023.
4E is developing orally available MNK inhibitors, attempting to tame chronic pain by targeting the MNK-eIF4E signaling pathway in peripheral sensory neurons while avoiding any potential effects on the central nervous system such as addiction and cognitive impairment.
Currently, no other notable biopharma companies are working on this target for neurological disorders.
“Lilly’s clinical development, translational, and global commercial capacity—and its deep commitment to tackling the challenges of chronic pain for patients—make it the right home for realizing the full potential of this work for patients,” Joe Price, 4E’s co-founder, president and chairman, said in a June 16 statement.
The 4E acquisition comes about a year after Lilly bought SiteOne Therapeutics and its phase 2 non-opioid pain candidate for up to $1 billion. The centerpiece of that deal, now coded LY4515100, is a Nav1.8 inhibitor that acts on a sodium ion channel primarily found in the peripheral nervous system.
Lilly remains persistent in pursuing non-opioid pain options after recent setbacks with a P2X7 inhibitor and an SSTR4 agonist, both of which were in-licensed from other companies.
Besides the 4E and SiteOne assets, Lilly is also developing an epiregulin antibody. Called turigrobart (LY3848575), the drug is undergoing phase 2 trials for chronic neuropathic pain associated with distal sensory polyneuropathy.
Another asset, an antagonist of the angiotensin II type 2 receptor coded LY4065967, is being evaluated in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain in a phase 2 trial that launched this February.
The 4E deal marks the 11th Lilly acquisition announced this year, according to a Fierce tally. In neuroscience alone, the Indianapolis pharma is also offering $6.3 billion upfront to snap up Centessa Pharmaceuticals and its sleep disorder pipeline with a focus on orexin receptor 2 agonists.
As Lilly continues to execute a rapid string of M&As, the latest neuroscience play signals that the pharma giant remains intent on leveraging its obesity market windfall to capture the next generation of blockbuster medicines.
The company is pursuing two strategies in dealmaking, Lilly’s business development head and oncology president, Jake Van Naarden, recently told Fierce.
Under the first model, the company is spreading the net by striking a large volume of early-stage deals.
“The strategy there is, most of these things won’t work,” Van Naarden explained. “But we haven’t spent that much money in total, so if one or two work, it easily pays for the entire endeavor.”
The other model focuses on candidates with proof-of-concept data—or, as Van Naarden put it, drugs that “at the time of the deal, you know are real.”
“On the balance of 2026 but also going forward, we’re not done with either of these two strategies,” he said.