Eli Lilly to Buy 3 Vaccine Developers

Even before Mr. Kennedy’s ascendance, some major pharmaceutical companies had made their infectious diseases divisions less of a priority, in large part because they were less profitable than other areas.

In recent years, Eli Lilly has focused on drugs for diabetes, weight loss, cancer, immune conditions and Alzheimer’s disease.

But the company, now 150 years old, has a long history in infectious diseases. In the 1950s, Eli Lilly produced the polio vaccine. In the late 1980s, the antibiotic Ceclor was the company’s best-selling product.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report Eli Lilly’s latest acquisitions.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/26/business/eli-lilly-vaccines-shingles-epstein-barr.html