Eli Lilly agreed to acquire Verve Therapeutics for approximately $1 billion up front, adding a potential treatment for cardiovascular disease to its portfolio.

Eli Lilly will acquire gene-editing startup Verve Therapeutics for up to $1.3 billion, the companies said on Tuesday, sending Verve's shares up 77.7% in premarket trading. Lilly has struck multiple partnership deals with gene-editing companies in the last two years to expand its portfolio beyond its blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes drugs.

Eli Lilly has struck a deal to buy Crispr gene-editing start-up Verve Therapeutics for up to $1.3bn, the latest acquisition by the world’s most valuable drugmaker as it seeks to boost its pipeline of experimental medicines.