Eli Lilly licenses AI tech for preclinical development

San Francisco-based biotech company Atomwise could be set to receive up to $1 million per target in milestone payments following a partnership agreement with Eli Lilly.

Eli Lilly has secured rights to use Atomwise’s patented AI technology in its preclinical drug discovery programs, a press release confirmed on Monday, June 3.

According to the release, the two companies will collaborate on 10 drug discovery targets chosen by Eli Lilly, with the aim of accelerating the identification of new medicines with the use of Atomwise’s tech.

Atomwise is eligible to receive up to a total $550 million in development and commercialisation milestones as a result of the deal, and will have the option to develop any compounds which Eli Lilly does not select for clinical testing.

Noting that Eli Lilly had  “a massive number of molecules enabled by automated synthesis” in its robotic library”, Atomwise said that it hoped its technology could assist in identifying which of these molecules could be used as a treatment for specific diseases.

Abraham Heifets, Atomwise CEO, said that “Lilly has made it clear that they are focused on developing drugs for novel target proteins, which are often challenging and less well studied.”

“Our expertise and tools have been shown to succeed with these kinds of targets, and therefore could be a key to unlocking success for patients,” he added.

The news comes just days after LSIPR  reported that Eli Lilly had struck a deal to obtain an exclusive licence for non-opioid, non-addictive chronic pain treatments owned by Boston company Centrexion Therapeutics.

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