The deal would double Verve’s market value and expand Lilly’s pipeline of early-stage therapies.

Eli Lilly is in late-stage talks to purchase Verve Therapeutics in a transaction that could total $1.3 billion, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Verve Therapeutics surged 74.8% after hours to $10.96 following takeover speculation, while Eli Lilly slipped 1.4% to $807.58 during regular trade.

The deal features an upfront payment of nearly $1 billion and an additional $300 million, contingent upon clinical results, which would double Verve Therapeutics' current market value to $559 million.

Verve is advancing gene-editing treatments for high cholesterol and has disclosed positive Phase 1 findings for its primary drug candidate. 

The company already has a partnership with Eli Lilly.

If completed, the deal would extend Lilly’s focus on early-stage innovation rather than commercial-stage assets — a strategy backed by its financial strength from diabetes and obesity blockbusters Mounjaro and Zepbound, projected to generate over $30 billion this year.

Lilly’s potential move comes amid renewed biopharma dealmaking after a subdued period.

Recent deals include Sanofi’s $9.5 billion tie-up with Blueprint Medicines and Bristol Myers Squibb’s $11.1 billion collaboration with BioNTech. 

The Verve deal will reportedly be announced later this week, barring any last-minute changes.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for Eli Lilly was ‘neutral’ with ‘normal’ message volume, while Verve Therapeutics saw ‘extremely bullish’ sentiment amid ‘extremely high’ message volume.

Eli Lilly’s stock has risen 3.8% so far in 2025, while Verve Therapeutics’ stock has gained 4.3%

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