Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly acquired Houston biotechnology startup CrossBridge Bio this week in a roughly $300 million deal.
The startup, which is based out of the Texas Medical Center’s innovation hub, said the acquisition could speed up development of its cancer-fighting drugs, which are currently in the preclinical phase. The acquisition is likely to strengthen the global drugmaker’s pipeline of oncology drugs.
“I’m proud of how well our team has executed and advanced our platform in such a short time since the company’s founding,” CrossBridge Bio co-founder and CEO Michael Torres said in a statement. “By becoming a part of Lilly, a leader in patient-focused therapeutic development, we are well-positioned to further accelerate the clinical potential of this approach.”
The deal is valued at $300 million, split between an upfront payment and a later payment contingent on a development milestone, according to a news release.
A spokesman for Eli Lilly declined to comment further about the acquisition. CrossBridge Bio did not immediately answer a question about how the deal would affect its employees.
CrossBridge Bio, founded in 2023, expects to file an Investigational New Drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this year to study its leading cancer drug. Called CBB-120, the drug is a novel type of antibody-drug conjugate, which fights cancer by identifying cancer cells and targeting them directly with chemotherapy.
Eli Lilly, the maker of the popular GLP-1 injectable Mounjaro, has invested heavily in Houston as a biotechnology hub. The global drugmaker last year announced plans to build a $6.5 billion, 236-acre biomanufacturing plant in northeast Houston that is expected to create more than 600 jobs.
A date for the plant’s groundbreaking has not been announced, though Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks previously told the Houston Chronicle that foundations and steel could be built by late 2026. The facility is intended to scale up production of another weight loss pill from Eli Lilly — orforglipron, or Foundayo — which won FDA approval earlier this month.