Eli Lilly & Co announced on May 26, 2026, that it will acquire three vaccine developers—Curevo, LimmaTech Biologics, and Vaccine Company—in deals totaling up to about $3.8 billion to re-enter the infectious disease vaccine market [1, 2, 3]. The company has been absent from this space for years and currently has no vaccines on the market [3].
The acquisitions will give Lilly access to vaccine candidates targeting shingles, common bacterial pathogens such as staph infections, and the Epstein-Barr virus [1, 2, 3]. The purchase prices are approximately $1.5 billion for Curevo, $780 million for LimmaTech Biologics, and $1.55 billion for Vaccine Company [2, 3].
Curevo’s shingles vaccine candidate, named amezosvatein, is the most clinically advanced among the three. It showed fewer moderate-to-severe side effects in phase 2 trials compared to the existing vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline [3]. Most of the other vaccine candidates are still in earlier clinical stages and will take time before becoming widely available [3].
Following the announcement, Eli Lilly’s share price rose about 1.3% to 1.5% in premarket trading [1, 2]. Daniel M. Skovronsky, the company’s chief scientific and product officer, described the acquisitions as part of a strategy to prevent disease at its source rather than only treat symptoms later. He said, "These acquisitions reflect a deliberate strategy to prevent disease at its source rather than treat its consequences" [2].
The renewed focus on vaccines comes after Lilly recently hired Dr. Peter Marks, a former top vaccine regulator at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [3]. Analyst Evan Seigerman of BMO Capital Markets said, "While development efforts in infectious disease are more nascent, deals start to give Marks the tools to expand the company's pipeline" [3].
