Insilico Medicine secures $2.75 billion drug collaboration with Eli Lilly

Generative-AI drug developer Insilico Medicine said on Sunday it has ​agreed a global licensing and research deal ‌with U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly that could be worth up to $2.75 billion, including milestone payments.

Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly turning ​to AI to accelerate R&D, betting on ​new modelling tools and automated labs to ⁠unlock efficiency gains across their pipeline, and in ​line with a push by the U.S. Food ​and Drug Administration to reduce animal testing in the near future.

Under the agreement, Lilly will receive an exclusive licence ​to develop, manufacture and commercialize preclinical oral ​drug candidates by Insilico Medicine for selected disease areas, the ‌Hong ⁠Kong‑listed company said in a regulatory filing.

Insilico Medicine also said that it will receive an upfront payment of $115 million and is eligible for development, ​regulatory and ​commercial milestone ⁠payments that could take the total deal value to about $2.75 billion, as ​well as tiered royalties on future sales.

The ​Financial ⁠Times had earlier reported on this deal. The newspaper, citing unnamed sources, said that Lilly will ⁠acquire ​exclusive rights to sell a ​GLP-1 drug for diabetes from Insilico Medicine.