Eli Lilly acquires Hypnion

Eli Lilly and Company has announced that it has completed its acquisition of Hypnion, Inc., a privately held neuroscience drug discovery company focused on sleep disorder research.

The deal, valued at a total purchase price of $315 million, bolsters Lilly's pipeline with several new early-stage drug candidates and HY10275, an insomnia molecule currently in Phase II of development. HY10275 is a dual-acting H1/5HT2A compound that is targeted at both sleep onset and sleep maintenance, thereby potentially helping people fall asleep and stay asleep.

"We are pleased to have completed the acquisition of Hypnion, and now plan to leverage our CNS expertise to continue the development of HY10275," said Steven M. Paul, M.D., executive vice president, science and technology for Lilly. "This deal not only strengthens our own sleep disorder research, but also reaffirms our commitment to remaining a leader in the field of neuroscience. As we integrate Hypnion's capabilities into our own, we will continue to focus on discovering and developing better treatments for patients struggling with insomnia and other sleep disorders."

John F. Dee, Hypnion's president and chief executive officer commented, "The success we have achieved at Hypnion is a direct result of the dedication and passion of our employees. We are excited to see our efforts be recognized by an industry leader such as Lilly, and we hope that those efforts will one day lead to better solutions for insomnia patients."

The impact of the acquisition will be reflected in Lilly's second quarter 2007 financial results and will be included in the guidance section of the company's first quarter 2007 press release on April 16, 2007

http://www.lilly.com