Eli Lilly struck a deal Tuesday to develop new forms of gene editors potentially capable of inserting entire genes into patients.  The collaboration, with artificial intelligence-focused biotech Profluent, is sparse on details, including the number of programs the two companies would work on, the types of diseases they’ll pursue, or how much Lilly was paying upfront. But if every one of its efforts works out, Lilly would pay Profluent $2.25 billion in milestones payments.
The deal is part of a larger push by Lilly into gene editing. The big pharma, flush with record revenues from its obesity and diabetes drugs, has opened a new genetic medicine center in Boston and bought up a series of gene editing or gene therapy companies over the last few years.
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Eli Lilly entered a collaboration with Profluent, an artificial intelligence–focused biotech, to develop next-generation gene editors purportedly capable of inserting whole genes into patients.
The publicly available announcement provides limited operational specifics.
The agreement includes potential milestone payments to Profluent that could total $2.25 billion if all programs achieve predefined goals.
Details such as upfront payment amounts were not disclosed in the source.
The source did not specify the number of discovery or development programs covered, the target indications or disease areas to be pursued, nor timelines or clinical-stage targets.
The transaction aligns with Lilly’s broader expansion into genetic medicines, complementing a recently established genetic medicine center in Boston and a series of prior acquisitions in gene editing and gene therapy.
Key operational elements—program count, specific disease targets, payment schedule, and technical platform descriptions—were not reported in the source.