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June 20 (UPI) -- Drugmaker Eli Lilly said Tuesday that it had agreed to a $2.4 billion deal to acquire Dice Therapeutics, a company that develops drugs for autoimmune diseases. Eli Lilly will pay $48 per share in cash to buy the San-Francisco-based Dice. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of this year. Dice's stock price jumped 37% Tuesday morning.
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"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," said Patrik Jonsson, Eli Lilly executive vice president, said in a statement.
Dice develops new oral therapeutic drugs for autoimmune diseases, in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks a person's own cells instead of protecting them.
Dice CEO Kevin Judice said Tuesday that the deal would help his company's products reach a broader audience.
"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," Judice said.
According to CNBC, Eli Lilly's immunology portfolio now includes drugs like Taltz, which treats plaque psoriasis, and Olumiant, a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.
