Eli Lilly is wagering up to $1 billion on a private biotechnology company developing new, non-opioid pain drugs that have already caught the attention of other large pharmaceutical firms.

礼来公司正在押注高达10亿美元于一家私人生物技术公司，该公司正在开发新的非阿片类止痛药，这些药物已经引起了其他大型制药公司的关注。

Per an announcement Tuesday, Lilly

根据周二的公告，礼来公司

plans to acquire

计划收购

SiteOne Therapeutics in an all-cash deal. The companies aren’t disclosing how much money is being exchanged upfront or when they expect the transaction to close. But, if SiteOne’s research programs hit certain regulatory and commercial goals, the amount paid to its shareholders could reach that 10-figure mark..

SiteOne Therapeutics 达成了一项全现金交易。公司并未透露前期交换的资金数额，也未说明预计交易何时完成。但是，如果 SiteOne 的研究项目达到某些监管和商业目标，支付给其股东的金额可能达到十位数。

A San Francisco-area biotech, SiteOne has been overlooked by major drug companies and biopharma investors for much of its 15-year history. Its research focuses on “sodium ion channels” — a class of proteins with the potential to treat pain without the use of an opioid. Yet

旧金山地区的一家生物技术公司SiteOne在其15年的历史中，大部分时间一直被大型制药公司和生物制药投资者所忽视。其研究专注于“钠离子通道”——一类具有在不使用阿片类药物的情况下治疗疼痛潜力的蛋白质。然而

these proteins are notoriously hard to drug

这些蛋白质众所周知难以成为药物靶点

, a characteristic that scared off potential backers and left SiteOne leaning on small grant funds to stay afloat.

这一特性吓跑了潜在的支持者，使得SiteOne只能依靠小额资助来维持生存。

Over the last two years, however, the company has seen an influx of interest and investment. That’s thanks, in good part, to the precedent set by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, which

然而，在过去两年中，该公司看到了大量兴趣和投资的涌入。这在很大程度上要归功于Vertex Pharmaceuticals开创的先例，

successfully developed

成功开发

and now

现在

sells a pain drug

销售一种止痛药

that acts on one of the nine known sodium ion channels, “NaV1.8.” Vertex has positioned this drug, Journavx, as a valuable alternative to opioids. Wall Street analysts, meanwhile, expect it to eventually become a blockbuster product.

作用于九种已知钠离子通道之一的“NaV1.8”。Vertex公司将这种名为Journavx的药物定位为阿片类药物的宝贵替代品。与此同时，华尔街分析师预计它最终将成为一款重磅产品。

Ahead of Journavx’s approval,

在Journavx获批之前，

SiteOne closed a $100 million fundraising round

SiteOne完成了1亿美元的融资回合。

led by Novo Holdings, the controlling stakeholder of Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk. Existing investors participated, too, as well as OrbiMed, Wellington Management, Mission BioCapital and BSquared Capital.

由诺和诺德的控股公司Novo Holdings领投，现有投资者以及OrbiMed、Wellington Management、Mission BioCapital和BSquared Capital也参与其中。

At the time, SiteOne said it would use the fresh funds on human studies designed to show its drugs work as intended. The company’s most advanced program, code-named STC-004, also targets NaV1.8 and is now ready for mid-stage testing. STC-004 “may represent a next-generation, non-opioid treatment for patients suffering from chronic pain,” according to Lilly..

当时，SiteOne 表示将利用这笔新资金进行人体研究，以证明其药物能按预期发挥作用。该公司最先进的项目代号为 STC-004，同样针对 NaV1.8，目前已准备好进行中期测试。礼来公司表示，STC-004“可能代表了一种下一代的、非阿片类的慢性疼痛治疗方法”。

'The global burden of chronic pain continues to increase, and an effective non-opioid treatment remains elusive,' said Mark Mintun, Lilly’s group vice president of neuroscience research and development, in a statement. Mintun added his company is “eager” to continue advancing STC-004 with the SiteOne team..

“全球慢性疼痛的负担持续增加，有效的非阿片类治疗仍然难以捉摸，”礼来公司神经科学研发副总裁马克·明顿在一份声明中表示。明顿补充说，他的公司“渴望”与SiteOne团队继续推进STC-004。

While that drug could one day rival Journavx, SiteOne is actually partnered with Vertex on a different program targeting the NaV1.7 ion channel protein.

虽然有朝一日该药物可能与Journavx相媲美，但SiteOne实际上与Vertex在另一个针对NaV1.7离子通道蛋白的项目上展开了合作。

Until now, Vertex was contending with two much smaller companies in SiteOne and

直到现在，Vertex还面临着SiteOne和另外两家规模较小的公司的竞争，

Latigo Biotherapeutics

拉提戈生物治疗公司

. Michael Yee, a Jefferies analyst who covers Vertex, wrote in a note to clients that the Lilly acquisition “adds intrigue” to the competitive landscape in this area of drug development.

杰富瑞分析师、负责Vertex业务的迈克尔·叶在写给客户的一份报告中表示，礼来收购案“增加了”这一药物开发领域的竞争格局的“趣味性”。

Even so, Yee highlighted how Vertex remains comfortably in the lead.

即便如此，叶伊还是强调了顶点公司依然遥遥领先。

For Lilly, the deal further fleshes out its

对于礼来公司来说，这笔交易进一步充实了其

pipeline of pain therapies

疼痛治疗的管道

. The pharma giant has advanced to mid-stage studies three other assets: an antibody directed at epiregulin, a small molecule meant to inhibit the cell membrane receptor “P2X7,” and another small molecule designed to amplify the “SSTR4” protein.

这家制药巨头已经在三项其他资产上推进到中期研究：一种针对上皮素的抗体、一种旨在抑制细胞膜受体“P2X7”的小分子，以及另一种旨在放大“SSTR4”蛋白的小分子。