AKUS Akouos Inc

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE TO

Tender Offer Statement under Section 14(d)(1) or 13(e)(1)

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

AKOUOS, INC.

(Name of Subject Company (issuer))

KEARNY ACQUISITION CORPORATION

(Offeror)

a wholly-owned subsidiary of

ELI LILLY AND COMPANY

(Parent of Offeror)

(Names of Filing Persons (identifying status as offeror, issuer or other person))

Common stock, $0.0001 par value per share

(Title of Class of Securities)

00973J101

(CUSIP Number of Class of Securities)

Anat Hakim

Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

Eli Lilly and Company

Lilly Corporate Center

Indianapolis, Indiana 46285

Telephone: (317) 276-2000

(Name, address, and telephone numbers of person authorized to receive notices and communications on behalf of filing persons)

Copy to:

Sophia Hudson, P.C.

Sharon Freiman

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

601 Lexington Avenue

New York, New York 10022

Telephone: (212) 446-4800

Check the appropriate boxes below to designate any transactions to which the statement relates:

Check the following box if the filing is a final amendment reporting the results of the tender offer:  ☐

If applicable, check the appropriate box(es) below to designate the appropriate rule provision(s) relied upon:

Items 1 through 9 and Item 11.

This Tender Offer Statement on Schedule TO (together with any amendments and supplements hereto, the “Schedule TO”) relates to the offer by Kearny Acquisition Corporation, a Delaware corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company, an Indiana corporation (“Lilly”), to purchase all of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Shares”), of Akouos, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Akouos”), in exchange for (a) $12.50 per Share, net to the stockholder in cash, without interest and less any applicable tax withholding, plus (b) one non-tradable contingent value right (“CVR”) per Share, which represents the contractual right to receive contingent payments of up to $3.00 per CVR, net to the stockholder in cash, without interest and less any applicable tax withholding, upon the achievement of certain specified milestones in accordance with the terms and subject to the conditions of a contingent value rights agreement to be entered into with a rights agent selected by Lilly and reasonably acceptable to Akouos, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase, dated October 31, 2022 (as it may be amended or supplemented from time to time, the “Offer to Purchase”), and in the related Letter of Transmittal (as it may be amended or supplemented from time to time, the “Letter of Transmittal”), copies of which are attached hereto as Exhibits (a)(1)(A) and (a)(1)(B), respectively.

All information contained in the Offer to Purchase (including Schedule I thereto) and the related Letter of Transmittal is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference in response to Items 1 through 9 and Item 11 of this Schedule TO, except as otherwise set forth below.

Not applicable.

2

3

SIGNATURES

After due inquiry and to the best knowledge and belief of the undersigned, each of the undersigned certifies that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct.