Eli Lilly has tapped up drug delivery specialist Elektrofi to see whether the biotech’s microparticle formulation technology could produce the next generation of subcutaneously administered therapies.
In return for $20 million upfront, Lilly will secure exclusive rights to three undisclosed targets, for which the Big Pharma will then take on responsibility for clinical development and hopefully commercialization.
Should any of the resulting candidates make it that far, Elektrofi could be in line for over $150 million in milestone payments per target, plus a slice of the royalties. Lilly also has the option to expand the agreement to encompass an extra two targets in return for further payments.
Elektrofi’s technology is used to engineer ultra-high concentration, low-viscosity protein formulations that can be administered as low-volume, subcutaneous injections. The formulations can even be administered using commercially available devices like autoinjectors, which could one day transform IV drugs into products easy to use at home.
The Boston-based company said the Lilly deal “strengthens [our] position as a global partner and scientific technology innovator that is reformulating the future of biologic delivery.”
“Our collaboration with Lilly further validates the potential value of our expertise, our capabilities, and our proprietary technology platform, especially in the areas of autoimmune disease, oncology and neuroscience,” Elektrofi CEO Chase Coffman said in the release. “Our team is looking forward to collaborating with Lilly and leveraging the talents and insights of the collective team to accomplish what is yet to be done.”
Lilly isn’t the first Big Pharma to show an interest. Back in 2020, Takeda established a pact to see if Elektrofi’s tech could be used to enable simpler dosing of the Japanese pharma’s plasma-derived therapies. The biotech followed it up with a deal with argenx the following year.