Eli Lilly is making a $1.5 billion biobucks bet on Chinese biotech Regor Therapeutics to seek out, develop and hopefully sell new therapies for metabolic disorders.
The biobucks pact is heavily backloaded, with just $50 million coming upfront, as Lilly gains access to the biotech’s so-called CARD (Computer Accelerated Rational Discovery) platform.
Regor taps CARD with structural biology, computational chemistry, therapeutic biology, medicinal chemistry and clinical development to find what it believes are the best- and first-in-class molecules.
Under the deal, Lilly nabs a license to select Regor IP with an option to extend the license. Lilly will be responsible for clinical development, manufacturing and commercialization worldwide except for the People’s Republic of China, Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan, where Regor will maintain these rights and responsibilities.
Neither company has specifics on disease targets, though Lilly has a major metabolic focus with its line of diabetes products and research.
“Through this collaboration, we will have the opportunity to expand treatment options available to patients suffering from metabolic disorders,” said Ruth Gimeno, Ph.D., vice president, diabetes research and clinical investigation at Lilly. “Regor’s technology will also allow Lilly to further accelerate innovation and deliver breakthrough therapies in obesity and diabetes.”