A pair of billion-dollar-plus buyout deals are in the works with Eli Lilly agreeing to acquire sleep disorder drug developer Centessa Pharmaceuticals for approximately $7.8 billion, while Biogen has agreed to purchase Apellis Pharmaceuticals, a developer of immunology and rare disease treatments, for up to approximately $5.6 billion cash. Operating from headquarters in Cheshire, U.K., and Boston, Centessa is developing a pipeline of orexin receptor 2 (OX2R) agonists designed to treat excessive daytime sleepiness and disorders of impaired wakefulness by targeting the neurobiological system at the center of the sleep-wake cycle. Centessa’s lead pipeline candidate cleminorexton (formerly ORX750) has shown what the company calls a potential best-in-class profile in Phase IIa clinical trials across narcolepsy type 1, narcolepsy type 2, and idiopathic hypersomnia. Also in Centessa’s OX2R agonist portfolio are additional clinical and preclinical-stage programs that could be used across a broader range of neurological, neurodegenerative, and neuropsychiatric conditions. Two such programs are disclosed in the pipeline posted on the company’s website: ORX142, described only as a potential treatment of neurological and neurodegenerative disorders; and ORX489, described only as treating neuropsychiatric disorders. “Orexin receptor biology represents one of the most compelling mechanistic opportunities in neuroscience as a direct intervention on the master switch of the sleep-wake cycle,” Carole Ho, executive vice president and president, Lilly Neuroscience, said in a statement. “Centessa has assembled a portfolio with the breadth and depth to improve wakefulness across a broad array of indications. Joining forces with Centessa colleagues means we can now pursue that…
