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Eli Lilly and Co. is collaborating with Boston-based Superluminal Medicines to use artificial intelligence to discover small-molecule drugs for cardiometabolic disease and obesity in an agreement worth up to $1.3 billion announced Thursday.
In a news release, privately held Superluminal said the collaboration would combine Superluminal’s AI-powered drug discovery platform and Indianapolis-based Lilly’s small molecule development and commercialization expertise to rapidly develop medications.
Lilly is a leader in the obesity market with medications such as Zepbound, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for weight management in late 2023 and has since become one of the company’s most significant revenue drivers. In the second quarter, Lilly reported Zepbound revenue grew 172%, reaching $3.4 billion.
For its next generation of treatments, Lilly increasingly is looking to develop treatments from highly complex, small molecules.
In its agreement with Lilly, Superluminal will use its AI-driven platform to discover and optimize small-molecule treatments for G protein-coupled receptors, or GPCRs, which have emerged as a key to conditions such as diabetes and obesity.
“Our collaboration with Lilly is a defining moment for Superluminal, and a testament to the power of our platform to deliver high-quality development candidates against historically intractable GPCR targets,” Superluminal CEO Cony D’Cruz said in a written statement. “Together, we aim to develop next-generation medicines that address the urgent and growing global burden of cardiometabolic disease.”
Lilly declined to comment further on the collaboration when reached by IBJ on Friday.
Lilly receives exclusive rights to develop and commercialize compounds arising from the collaboration after Superluminal delivers development candidates that meet predefined criteria. Superluminal is eligible to receive up to $1.3 billion, including up-front and near-term payments, equity investment, development and commercial milestones and tiered royalties on net sales.
The company is based at Lilly Gateway Labs in Boston. Lilly said it operates Gateway Labs in multiple locations to assist emerging biotech companies. Lilly also is an investor in Superluminal.
Lilly’s other efforts to develop new complex small-molecule drugs include its $4.5 billion Lilly Medicine Foundry now under construction in the LEAP Research and Innovation District in Lebanon (LEAP stands for Limitless Exploration/Advanced Pace).
Lilly shares were up about 2% in pre-market trading, just under $696, at 9 a.m.
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