New York, Feb 10, 2026, 10:52 (EST) — Regular session
- Eli Lilly shares slip in regular trading after fresh deal headlines in cell therapy and China drug development
- Investors weigh the company’s pipeline spending as obesity-drug competition intensifies
- Next focus: a key U.S. FDA decision for Lilly’s oral obesity pill later this quarter
Eli Lilly and Company shares fell 0.9% to $1,035.54 by 10:46 a.m. EST on Tuesday after opening higher, as traders digested the drugmaker’s latest pipeline dealmaking. The stock had traded between $1,032.21 and $1,054.31.
The pullback matters because Lilly’s run has turned it into a high-expectations stock. When a company that big starts writing checks outside its core growth engine, investors want to know what problem it is trying to solve.
This week’s headlines push Lilly further into early-stage science, where timelines are long and clinical failures are common. It is also happening as the obesity drug race gets noisier, with more pills and injectables vying for attention and trial slots.
On Monday, Lilly agreed to buy privately held Orna Therapeutics for up to $2.4 billion in cash, tapping technology that aims to generate cell therapies inside the body. BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman called the approach “high-risk and without validation in large trials,” while flagging competition from Bristol Myers Squibb, AbbVie and Gilead. Lilly shares rose more than 3% in early trade on Monday after the deal was announced. 1
Lilly said Orna is developing engineered circular RNA paired with lipid nanoparticles, with a lead program called ORN-252 aimed at B cell-driven autoimmune diseases. Francisco Ramírez-Valle, a senior vice president at Lilly, said “the complexity, cost, and logistics of ex vivo approaches make it challenging,” while Orna CEO Joe Bolen said, “We are excited to join forces with Lilly.” 2
CAR-T is a type of cell therapy that reprograms immune cells to recognize a target. Most commercial CAR-T treatments involve taking cells out of a patient, engineering them in a lab, then infusing them back — a process that can be slow and expensive. “In vivo” approaches try to do the engineering inside the body.
Lilly is also tying itself closer to China-based drug development. Innovent Biologics said it will receive $350 million upfront and could earn up to about $8.5 billion in milestone payments under a strategic collaboration with Lilly in oncology and immunology, with Innovent leading programs through Phase 2 completion in China. Innovent CEO Michael Yu said, “This alliance moves beyond traditional licensing.” 3
The broader tape offered little help. The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund was little changed, while Novo Nordisk’s U.S.-listed shares were up about 1.8%.
Competition in obesity treatment stayed in view on Tuesday after Kailera Therapeutics and partner Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals said an experimental oral obesity drug helped patients lose up to 12.1% of body weight at 26 weeks in a mid-stage study in China. Reuters reported the drug is in the GLP-1 class — the same broad class as Lilly’s experimental pill orforglipron and Novo’s oral Wegovy — underscoring how quickly the field is crowding. 4
Lilly is coming off a strong earnings update last week, when it forecast 2026 profit of $33.50 to $35 per share and sales of $80 billion to $83 billion, helped by demand for Mounjaro and Zepbound. But management also warned pricing would weigh; “Price is expected to be a drag,” CFO Lucas Montarce said on the company’s results call, as Reuters reported. 5
Still, the Orna move adds another layer of uncertainty for a stock priced for execution. Milestone-heavy deals can look manageable early and expensive later if programs succeed, and any stumble in obesity-drug pricing or volume can quickly dominate the narrative.
Investors’ next clear date is regulatory: Lilly’s weight-loss pill orforglipron is now due a U.S. FDA decision on April 10, 2026, Reuters reported, citing internal documents. 6
