Lilly Completes Acquisition

Lilly completed the CoLucid acquisition in March.

Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY) is growing with a major acquisition. The company has completed its $960 million deal with Massachusetts-based CoLucid Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: CLCD), which is currently developing a migraine treatment originally discovered at Lilly.

When the acquisition was originally announced in January, Lilly Chief Executive Officer David Ricks said the deal will enhance the company’s pain management portfolio. The oral migraine treatment, known as lasmiditan, is expected to begin the second of two Phase 3 trials in the second half of the year.

"More than 36 million people suffer from migraine in the United States alone, and lasmiditan could represent the first significant innovation for the acute treatment of migraine in more than 20 years," said Ricks.

Lilly out-licensed the treatment to CoLucid in 2005. The company said in January if the second trial is successful, it could submit for U.S. regulatory approval in 2018.

As a result of the acquisition, CoLucid’s common stock will no longer be traded on the Nasdaq. Lilly did not state whether any jobs would be affected by the deal.