Eli Lilly and Company and Hypnion, Inc. today announced that they have signed a definitive merger agreement whereby Lilly will acquire Hypnion, a privately held neuroscience drug discovery company focused on sleep disorders.
The transaction has received the requisite approval of Hypnion stockholders and is expected to close near the end of the first quarter of 2007, contingent upon clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Anti-Trust Improvements Act and other customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"The acquisition of Hypnion provides Lilly with a broader and more substantive presence in the area of sleep disorder research," said Steven M. Paul, M.D., executive vice president, science and technology for Lilly. "Hypnion has leveraged its expertise in this area to develop both innovative technologies and molecules, including the promising insomnia compound HY10275. We are excited to bring this expertise to Lilly and continue the efforts to discover better treatments for patients struggling with insomnia and other sleep disorders."
Nick Galakatos, Ph.D., chairman of Hypnion, commented, "Having demonstrated the promise of our pipeline of sleep medicines in the clinic and our enabling SCORE technology, we recognized that a partnership with a leading pharmaceutical company was our best strategy for moving forward quickly. Given Lilly's long record of achievement in neuroscience, we are confident that together we can produce safer and more efficacious sleep medications."