On March 31, 2026, Centessa Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage company developing a new class of medicines for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness and other neurological conditions, announced a definitive agreement for Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly), an American multinational pharmaceutical company, to acquire Centessa. Under the terms of the transaction agreement, Lilly will acquire all of the issued and to be issued share capital of Centessa (including the American Depositary Shares (ADSs) representing ordinary shares) for $38.00 in cash per share plus one non-transferrable contingent value right (CVR) that entitles the holder to receive up to an aggregate of $9.00 subject to the achievement of three milestones described below, for total potential aggregate per share consideration of up to $47.00. The upfront cash consideration represents an aggregate equity value of approximately $6.3 billion and the CVR represents an additional potential aggregate equity value of approximately $1.5 billion. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati advised Centessa in IP matters related to the transaction.

The Wilson Sonsini team that advised Centessa on the IP matters was led by Julia Minitti and Michael Hostetler. The team also included Alyssa Worsham, Luis Perla, Tina Xiang, and Brandon Leahy.

For more information, please see Centessa’s news release. Additional coverage can be found on Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg.