Eli Lilly said Monday it would buy privately held blood cancer treatment developer ‌Ajax Therapeutics for up ​to $2.3 billion in cash.

Ajax's lead asset, AJ1-11095, is an ⁠experimental once-daily oral treatment that is ​in early-stage testing for previously treated patients ⁠with myelofibrosis — a rare, chronic blood cancer where scar tissue builds up ‌in the bone marrow, disrupting ​normal blood cell ‌production.

"We look forward to the presentation ‌of clinical proof-of-concept data later in 2026, rapidly advancing AJ1-11095 into registrational clinical ⁠trials, and using ‌our expertise ⁠in blood cancer to hopefully deliver another ⁠important ⁠new medicine to patients and hematologists," said Jacob ‌Van Naarden, president of Lilly Oncology.

Lilly said the total deal value includes ‌an ​upfront payment and ‌subsequent payments upon the achievement of certain clinical and regulatory ​milestones.