Lilly has recently announced the agreed acquisition of Centessa Pharmaceuticals in order to acquire its orexin system drug portfolio in a blockbuster deal worth up to US$7.8bn. This transaction confirms big pharma interest in drug treatments for the Central Nervous System in general and the increasing interest in drugs targeting the orexin system specifically. TheraCryf's Orexin-1 blocker (Ox-1) is its lead asset with class leading selectivity targeting the US$42bn addiction market and is on track to complete the data set to enable a move into in human clinical trials by the end of this year. Against that backdrop, TheraCryf's valuation is nugatory given typical pre-clinical deal value upfront payments c5x the company's current market capitalisation rising to c9x at clinical readiness.
