Eli Lilly to sign $2 billion deal to develop AI drugs

The American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly will sign an agreement for 2 billion dollars with the biotechnology company Insilico Medicine, which is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange and uses artificial intelligence for drug discovery, in order to develop products and market a medicine against diabetes, reported The Financial Times.

Lilly will acquire exclusive rights to market a GLP-1 diabetes drug from Insilico Medicine, according to the British newspaper’s report, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The deal includes an initial payment of $115 million, and could rise to more than $2 billion if expected regulatory and sales milestones are reached, the newspaper added, citing unnamed sources.

Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to accelerate research and development, relying on new modeling tools and automated laboratories to increase efficiency across their product portfolio, in line with the US Food and Drug Administration’s initiative to reduce animal testing in the near future.

Eli Lilly, founded in 1876 and headquartered in Indianapolis, stands out in the research, development and commercialization of innovative medicines in areas such as diabetes (including the first insulin), obesity, oncology and immunology, reaching a historic valuation of one trillion dollars in 2025.

Insilico Medicine is a leading clinical-stage biotechnology company using generative AI, deep learning and big data analytics.