New York, June 26, 2026, 10:04 EDT
- Centessa traded at $40.50, $2.50 over the $38 per share Lilly is paying in cash.
- The spread puts the non-transferable contingent value right, or CVR, at around 28% of its $9 top payout.
- CNTA is no longer trading on Nasdaq. The suspension took effect June 25.
- CNTA options are cash-settled only. The CVR isn’t included.
Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:CNTA) shares were not trading live on Friday, but this wasn’t due to a holiday. Trading in New York was open at 10:04 a.m. EDT, with the Nasdaq’s regular session running 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. There’s no market closure for June 26 on the 2026 holiday list.
Centessa shares stopped trading after its buyout by Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) closed. The Nasdaq Composite started off down 1.0% at 25,105.414 on Friday, but CNTA isn’t part of the usual public action anymore.
CNTA’s last trade came in at $40.50 for the ADS. The deal is $38 cash plus a CVR that could pay up to $9, so the CVR was getting priced at $2.50, or 27.8% of its max value.
That matters since risk stuck around after the ticker stopped trading. Public price discovery is over, but the drug-approval payout tied to the CVR is still there. Shareholders who held through the close have a non-transferable claim. Listed option holders miss out on that set of payoffs.
Lilly closed its acquisition on June 24, bringing Centessa in as a wholly owned unit. Centessa said shareholders with shares still outstanding as of 6:00 p.m. UK time June 23 would get $38 in cash plus one CVR per share.
Nasdaq said CNTA’s last day of trading was June 23. The stock got halted following the after-hours trade around 7:50 p.m. and stayed halted through June 24. Trading was suspended starting June 25.
Options on CNTA got split again for investors. OCC said each contract now comes with $3,800 cash—$38 for 100 shares. The CVRs won’t be part of the adjusted contract since they’re not transferable. Contracts set to expire after July 17, 2026, now roll off on July 17.
Lilly’s CVR pays only if some FDA approvals come through on deadline. The company’s transaction statement set a $2 payout for cleminorexton (formerly ORX750 or ORX142) if it’s approved for narcolepsy type 2 before five years after the deal closes. Another $5 is tied to idiopathic hypersomnia cleared before the same date. The first U.S. approval in any indication before Jan. 1, 2030, adds $2 more. Lilly said there’s no guarantee any CVR payment will happen.
Carole Ho, executive vice president and president of Lilly Neuroscience, said after the close that Lilly plans to go after Centessa’s portfolio “with urgency.” In Centessa’s earlier deal announcement, then-CEO Mario Alberto Accardi called the company “at the forefront of orexin science.” Eli Lilly and Company
Farallon Capital Management reported a 0% stake in Centessa after selling its ordinary shares tied to the Lilly acquisition, a Schedule 13D/A filing showed Friday.
