{"entity":{"id":"kelonia-therapeutics","kind":"company","name":"Kelonia Therapeutics","aka":[],"tldr":"Kelonia developed a way to create CAR T cells directly inside the body using a targeted gene delivery particle, so patients do not need their cells removed and manufactured. Its lead programme is for multiple myeloma, and Eli Lilly bought the company in the second quarter of 2026 in a deal worth up to $7 billion.","summary":"Kelonia Therapeutics is a clinical-stage company developing in vivo CAR T-cell therapy using its proprietary in vivo gene placement system (iGPS), a lentiviral-based delivery technology designed to deliver genetic cargo only to the desired tissue. Lead candidate KLN-1010 is a CD19/BCMA bispecific CAR (biCAR) in the phase 1 inMMyCAR trial (NCT07075185) for refractory multiple myeloma, with clinical data highlighted in a plenary session at the 2025 ASH annual meeting. Further oncology and autoimmune programmes are undisclosed. On 20 April 2026 Eli Lilly announced a definitive agreement to acquire Kelonia for $3.25 billion upfront and up to $7.00 billion including milestones, and Lilly's second-quarter 2026 results list the acquisition as completed in that quarter; the company website now describes Kelonia as a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly. A 2022 Form D shows about $50 million of equity sold when the company was based in Cambridge, MA.","asOf":"2026-10-29","links":[{"label":"Official website","url":"https://keloniatx.com/"},{"label":"Pipeline and inMMyCAR trial","url":"https://keloniatx.com/pipeline/"},{"label":"Lilly to acquire Kelonia (PR Newswire, April 2026)","url":"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lilly-to-acquire-kelonia-therapeutics-to-advance-in-vivo-car-t-cell-therapies-302747122.html"},{"label":"Lilly Q2 2026 results listing the completed acquisition (SEC exhibit)","url":"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/59478/000005947826000077/q226lillysalesandearningsp.htm"},{"label":"Form D, April 2022","url":"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1925270/000192527022000002/primary_doc.xml"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["multiple-myeloma"],"sections":["cell-therapy"],"technologies":["in-vivo-car-t"],"targets":["bcma","cd19"],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":["Series letters and investor names for earlier rounds not sourced. Completion is taken from Lilly's second-quarter 2026 results release (filed with the SEC on 5 August 2026), which lists Kelonia among acquisitions completed in the quarter; the exact closing date is not stated there. keloniatx.com states it is a wholly owned Lilly subsidiary."],"hq":"Boston, MA","country":"US","companyType":"cell-therapy","website":"https://keloniatx.com/","founded":2020,"stage":"acquired","investors":[],"funding":[{"round":"Form D offering","year":2022,"amountUsd":50299983,"source":"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1925270/000192527022000002/primary_doc.xml","note":"Equity offering, first sale 14 April 2022; issuer then based in Cambridge, MA"},{"round":"Acquisition","year":2026,"amountUsd":3250000000,"source":"https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lilly-to-acquire-kelonia-therapeutics-to-advance-in-vivo-car-t-cell-therapies-302747122.html","note":"Upfront payment of $3.25 billion; up to $7.00 billion in total including clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones; announced 20 April 2026"}],"acquiredBy":"eli-lilly"},"route":"/companies/kelonia-therapeutics/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"multiple-myeloma","kind":"cancer","name":"Multiple myeloma","route":"/cancers/multiple-myeloma/"}],"section":[{"id":"cell-therapy","kind":"section","name":"Cell Therapy","route":"/fronts/cell-therapy/"}],"technology":[{"id":"in-vivo-car-t","kind":"technology","name":"In vivo CAR-T","route":"/technologies/in-vivo-car-t/"}],"target":[{"id":"bcma","kind":"target","name":"BCMA","route":"/targets/bcma/"},{"id":"cd19","kind":"target","name":"CD19","route":"/targets/cd19/"}],"company":[{"id":"eli-lilly","kind":"company","name":"Eli Lilly (incl. Loxo)","route":"/companies/eli-lilly/"}]}}