Eli Lilly’s $3.25 billion acquisition of Kelonia Therapeutics caps startup’s tortuous ride

Summary: Eli Lilly just bought a small biotech company called Kelonia Therapeutics for $3.25 billion. Kelonia makes special cell therapies designed to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases. But their path to success was not easy. Over the last five years, the startup survived on $60 million and came within a week of running out of money three different times. After the massive sale was announced, one of the company's early investors shared the original presentation they used to start the business. It showed just how hard it was to stand out when there are so many other gene therapy ideas out there.

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