April 27 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly ( LLY ) said on 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.

(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju

Samuel and Devika Syamnath)