Drugmaker Eli Lilly plans to buy Verve Therapeutics, a gene-editing startup, for about $1 billion upfront. The deal gives Lilly a potential new treatment for heart disease, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Eli Lilly will buy Boston-based Verve Therapeutics, Inc. in a billion dollar deal with plans to advance Verve's new line of experimental cardiac health drugs.

Eli Lilly agreed to acquire Verve Therapeutics for about $1 billion upfront, adding a potential treatment for cardiovascular disease to its portfolio. Under the agreement, the pharmaceutical company will buy all of the gene-editing startup’s shares outstanding for $10.