Eli Lilly and Co. entered a definitive agreement to acquire Sigilon Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company looking to develop functional cures for a broad range of acute and chronic diseases, for approximately $34.6 million, plus a potential consideration of up to approximately $309.6 million.

Since 2018, the companies have partnered to develop encapsulated cell therapies, including SIG-002, for the treatment of type 1 diabetes. The goal of these therapies is to free patients from constant disease management by sensing blood glucose levels, restoring insulin production and releasing it over the long term.

“Despite significant advancement in treatment for people living with type 1 diabetes, many continue to live with a high disease burden every day,” said Ruth Gimeno, Ph.D., group vice president, diabetes, obesity and cardiometabolic research at Lilly. “By combining Sigilon’s talent and expertise in cell therapy with the knowledge and skills of Lilly’s research and development teams, we will enhance opportunities to create innovative islet cell therapy solutions to improve the care of people living with diabetes.”

“This agreement represents the culmination of the important work led by our R&D team to continue advancing SIG-002 at,” said Rogerio Vivaldi, M.D., CEO of Sigilon. “I am a passionate believer in the potential of SIG-002 and am very proud of our team’s accomplishments in developing and optimizing this product candidate using our novel platform technology. With deep industry expertise, Lilly is well-positioned to apply its industry-leading clinical and technical capabilities to harness the full potential of SIG-002 for the benefit of patients and their caregivers.”