Eli Lilly announced it will acquire Kelonia Therapeutics for $3.25 billion upfront, as it accelerates its in vivo cell-therapy push. The deal adds a further $3.75 billion in potential clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, with closing expected in the second half of 2026, subject to approvals. Kelonia’s lead program, KLN-1010, is a lentiviral in vivo CAR-T therapy in Phase I for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (NCT07075185). Rather than requiring ex vivo manufacturing, KLN-1010 uses Kelonia’s in vivo gene placement system to generate CAR T cells inside patients. Lilly framed the acquisition as a way to reduce manufacturing complexity and access barriers that limit eligible patients for traditional CAR T therapies. The move follows Lilly’s earlier purchase of Orna Therapeutics earlier this year focused on similar in vivo capabilities.