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Can Eli Lilly's 2026 Acquisition Spree Diversify Growth Beyond GLP-1s?
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Key Takeaways
LLY agreed to acquire Curevo, LimmaTech and Vaccine Company in deals worth up to $3.83 billion.
LLY is expanding into vaccines and infectious diseases with shingles, bacterial and EBV assets.
LLY's acquisitions aim to reduce reliance on GLP-1 drugs and broaden future growth drivers.
Eli Lilly (LLY - Free Report) has pursued a series of acquisitions since early 2026 to strengthen its pipeline and support long-term growth amid intensifying competition in the obesity space. While cardiometabolic health remains its core focus, LLY is deliberately broadening its footprint into other therapeutic areas, such as oncology, neuroscience, immunology and infectious diseases, through targeted deals.
Eli Lilly recently agreed to acquire three privately held biotech companies — Curevo, LimmaTech Biologics and Vaccine Company — in deals worth up to $3.83 billion combined, marking a significant expansion into vaccines and infectious diseases. The acquisitions add assets spanning shingles, bacterial infections and viral diseases, broadening Lilly's growth opportunities beyond its core obesity, diabetes and oncology franchises.
The centerpiece of the strategy is Curevo's phase III-ready shingles vaccine candidate, amezosvatein, acquired in a deal worth up to $1.5 billion. Lilly is also gaining LimmaTech's bacterial vaccine platform, including a candidate targeting Staphylococcus aureus infections, and Vaccine Company's early-stage pipeline led by an Epstein-Barr virus vaccine. If completed, the deals would strengthen Lilly’s long-term growth platform in infectious diseases and extend the company’s aggressive business development activity in 2026.
These acquisitions reflect Eli Lilly’s effort to avoid overreliance on its blockbuster obesity and diabetes franchise, led by blockbuster GLP-1 injections, Mounjaro for type II diabetes (T2D) and Zepbound for obesity and its newly approved oral GLP-1 therapy, Foundayo.
By expanding its portfolio, LLY is diversifying its future revenue streams, reducing concentration risk and creating multiple long-term growth drivers. This broader pipeline strategy could help maximize shareholder value while strengthening Lilly’s competitive position against its obesity rival, Novo Nordisk (NVO - Free Report) , in an increasingly crowded market.
LLY’s Increasing Rivalry in the Obesity Space
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk presently dominate the obesity market. Mounjaro and Zepbound directly compete with NVO’s GLP-1-based semaglutide medicines, Ozempic for T2D and Wegovy for obesity. Like Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk also generates a substantial portion of its revenues from both drugs.
Novo Nordisk launched the oral version of its obesity drug, Wegovy, in January 2026, giving it a first-mover advantage over Foundayo. However, Lilly could narrow the gap rapidly following the April launch of Foundayo.
Smaller biotech firms, like Viking Therapeutics (VKTX - Free Report) and Structure Therapeutics (GPCR - Free Report) , are also advancing GLP-1–based therapies to challenge the incumbents. Viking Therapeutics’ dual GIPR/GLP-1 receptor agonist, VK2735, is being developed both as oral and subcutaneous formulations for the treatment of obesity. Viking Therapeutics plans to advance oral VK2735 into phase III development for obesity in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Structure Therapeutics’ phase II ACCESS study on its orally administered GLP-1 RA, aleniglipron, demonstrated significant weight loss across all doses. Structure Therapeutics expects to initiate the late-stage program of aleniglipron in obesity in the second half of 2026.
LLY’s Stock Price, Valuation and Estimates
Shares of Eli Lilly have gained 4.7% year to date, whereas the industry has neither posted a loss nor a gain. During the same time frame, the company has also underperformed the S&P 500 but outperformed the sector, as seen in the chart below.
LLY Stock Price Movement
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, LLY stock is expensive. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 28.68 forward earnings, higher than 16.95 for the industry. However, the stock is trading below its five-year mean of 34.56.
LLY Stock Valuation
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Estimates for Eli Lilly’s 2026 earnings have improved from $35.29 to $35.67 per share in the past 30 days, and estimates for 2027 earnings have improved from $44.26 to $44.56 per share over the same time frame.
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Can Eli Lilly's 2026 Acquisition Spree Diversify Growth Beyond GLP-1s?
Key Takeaways
Eli Lilly (LLY - Free Report) has pursued a series of acquisitions since early 2026 to strengthen its pipeline and support long-term growth amid intensifying competition in the obesity space. While cardiometabolic health remains its core focus, LLY is deliberately broadening its footprint into other therapeutic areas, such as oncology, neuroscience, immunology and infectious diseases, through targeted deals.
Eli Lilly recently agreed to acquire three privately held biotech companies — Curevo, LimmaTech Biologics and Vaccine Company — in deals worth up to $3.83 billion combined, marking a significant expansion into vaccines and infectious diseases. The acquisitions add assets spanning shingles, bacterial infections and viral diseases, broadening Lilly's growth opportunities beyond its core obesity, diabetes and oncology franchises.
The centerpiece of the strategy is Curevo's phase III-ready shingles vaccine candidate, amezosvatein, acquired in a deal worth up to $1.5 billion. Lilly is also gaining LimmaTech's bacterial vaccine platform, including a candidate targeting Staphylococcus aureus infections, and Vaccine Company's early-stage pipeline led by an Epstein-Barr virus vaccine. If completed, the deals would strengthen Lilly’s long-term growth platform in infectious diseases and extend the company’s aggressive business development activity in 2026.
Earlier this year, LLY announced plans to acquire Ventyx Biosciences in a $1.2 billion deal aimed at expanding its pipeline of oral therapies for inflammatory diseases. Lilly also announced plans to acquire Orna Therapeutics for up to $2.4 billion to strengthen its in vivo CAR-T pipeline. In March, LLY announced its intent to acquire neuroscience biotech Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a $7.8 billion deal. In April, Eli Lilly agreed to acquire CrossBridge Bio for up to $300 million, adding its dual-payload ADC platform to strengthen precision oncology and next-generation cancer therapeutics capabilities. LLY recently also agreed to acquire Kelonia Therapeutics in a deal valued at up to $7 billion and Ajax Therapeutics for up to $2.3 billion to expand its oncology pipeline further.
These acquisitions reflect Eli Lilly’s effort to avoid overreliance on its blockbuster obesity and diabetes franchise, led by blockbuster GLP-1 injections, Mounjaro for type II diabetes (T2D) and Zepbound for obesity and its newly approved oral GLP-1 therapy, Foundayo.
By expanding its portfolio, LLY is diversifying its future revenue streams, reducing concentration risk and creating multiple long-term growth drivers. This broader pipeline strategy could help maximize shareholder value while strengthening Lilly’s competitive position against its obesity rival, Novo Nordisk (NVO - Free Report) , in an increasingly crowded market.
LLY’s Increasing Rivalry in the Obesity Space
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk presently dominate the obesity market. Mounjaro and Zepbound directly compete with NVO’s GLP-1-based semaglutide medicines, Ozempic for T2D and Wegovy for obesity. Like Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk also generates a substantial portion of its revenues from both drugs.
Novo Nordisk launched the oral version of its obesity drug, Wegovy, in January 2026, giving it a first-mover advantage over Foundayo. However, Lilly could narrow the gap rapidly following the April launch of Foundayo.
Smaller biotech firms, like Viking Therapeutics (VKTX - Free Report) and Structure Therapeutics (GPCR - Free Report) , are also advancing GLP-1–based therapies to challenge the incumbents. Viking Therapeutics’ dual GIPR/GLP-1 receptor agonist, VK2735, is being developed both as oral and subcutaneous formulations for the treatment of obesity. Viking Therapeutics plans to advance oral VK2735 into phase III development for obesity in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Structure Therapeutics’ phase II ACCESS study on its orally administered GLP-1 RA, aleniglipron, demonstrated significant weight loss across all doses. Structure Therapeutics expects to initiate the late-stage program of aleniglipron in obesity in the second half of 2026.
LLY’s Stock Price, Valuation and Estimates
Shares of Eli Lilly have gained 4.7% year to date, whereas the industry has neither posted a loss nor a gain. During the same time frame, the company has also underperformed the S&P 500 but outperformed the sector, as seen in the chart below.
LLY Stock Price Movement
From a valuation standpoint, LLY stock is expensive. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 28.68 forward earnings, higher than 16.95 for the industry. However, the stock is trading below its five-year mean of 34.56.
LLY Stock Valuation
Estimates for Eli Lilly’s 2026 earnings have improved from $35.29 to $35.67 per share in the past 30 days, and estimates for 2027 earnings have improved from $44.26 to $44.56 per share over the same time frame.
LLY Estimate Movement
Eli Lilly currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.