Hong Kong-listed Insilico Medicine signs AI drug development deal with Eli Lilly
Reaching development, regulatory and commercial milestones could see value of deal hit around US$2.75 billion
Under the agreement announced on Monday, US-headquartered, Hong Kong-listed Insilico will receive an upfront payment of US$115 million. The deal could have a total value of around US$2.75 billion tied to development, regulatory and commercial milestones, plus tiered royalties on future sales.
Shares of Insilico surged 15 per cent to HK$65.75 at the open on Monday, before paring gains and closing at HK$58.70, up 2.6 per cent on the day.
The drugs and their disease areas were not disclosed due to contract restrictions. However, Alex Zhavoronkov, the founder and CEO of 12-year-old Insilico, said that “some of those broad-spectrum, multi-target, multi-disease drugs may have been part of this deal”.
He said Insilico had been developing several drugs targeting fibrosis, inflammatory, oncology and other age-related pathways into clinical-stage development.
“These assets could also be applied to oncology, cardiovascular and other disease areas,” Zhavoronkov said.