Eli Lilly strikes $2.75 billion deal with Insilico Medicine to accelerate AI drug development

Lilly, Insilico Ink Deal on AI Drugs Worth Up to $2.75 Billion

Eli Lilly & Co. has signed an AI-powered drug development deal with Insilico Medicine that could be worth up to $2.75 billion. Under the deal, announced Sunday, Insilico is eligible for $115 million in upfront payments; other milestones could bring the value to $2.75 billion, plus tiered royalties on future sales. In return, Lilly gets the exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize potential medicines. The announcement builds on the partnership between the two companies, which have been working together since 2023. Hong Kong-listed Insilico is among the most advanced of the AI-enabled drug developers, with a suite of models that span the entire drug development process. The partnership with Insilico gives Lilly access to the firm's state-of-the-art AI platforms. The two companies plan to collaborate on multiple research and discovery programs for specific targets chosen by Lilly, according to a statement. The companies did not specify which disease areas or targets they're interested in. Despite its success selling obesity drugs, Lilly is already working to build a pipeline of future medicines that can power its next era. It is investing heavily in AI, in hopes that it can speed up the typically arduous drug-development process. And with its windfall from weight-loss drugs, Lilly has built an Nvidia-powered supercomputer at its headquarters in Indianapolis and in January announced it would create a new $1 billion research lab in San Francisco. "The challenge before us now is how would we find another success cycle before that one runs out, hopefully a lot sooner than it runs out, and sort of get exit velocity," Lilly Chief Executive Officer Dave Ricks said at an event with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in January. "Can we find more biology using AI? That is really the Holy Grail."

Eli Lilly to sign $2 billion deal for AI drug development with Hong Kong's Insilico Medicine, FT says

March 29 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly (LLY.N), opens new tab will sign a $2 billion deal with Hong Kong-listed biotech Insilico Medicine (3696.HK), opens new tab, which uses artificial intelligence ⁠for drug discovery, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. Lilly will acquire exclusive rights to sell a GLP-1 drug ⁠for diabetes from Insilico Medicine, the FT report said, ⁠citing sources familiar with the matter. Reuters could ⁠not immediately verify the report. Reporting ⁠by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru. Editing by Mark Potter Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Eli Lilly to sign $2bn deal for AI drug development with Hong Kong biotech

US drugmaker Eli Lilly will sign a $2bn deal with a Hong Kong-listed company that uses artificial intelligence for drug discovery, according to sources familiar with the matter, highlighting the global pharmaceutical sector's increasing reliance on medicines developed in China. Indianapolis-based Lilly will acquire exclusive rights to sell a GLP-1 drug for diabetes from Insilico Medicine, a biotech that went public on the Hong Kong stock exchange in December. Eli Lilly's Asian venture arm is one of Insilico's 10 largest shareholders. The deal, which is expected to be announced later on Sunday, includes a $115mn upfront payment and could total more than $2bn if future regulatory and sales milestones are hit, sources said. Lilly and Insilico declined to comment. Additional details about the deal could not immediately be learned. Lilly, like its rivals in the global pharmaceutical sector, is aggressively hunting in China for new drugs. A record number of pharmaceutical companies from outside China licensed drugs made by Chinese businesses in 2025, totalling $5.6bn in upfront payments, according to data from Evaluate, a data provider. In February, Lilly signed a licensing agreement for cancer and immune drugs with Chinese pharmaceutical company Innovent Biologics that included a $350mn upfront payment and an $8bn potential deal value. Lilly's Asian venture arm also invested in March in Shanghai-based biotech start-up Excalipoint. AstraZeneca in January signed a licensing deal worth up to $4.7bn with Chinese group CSPC Pharmaceuticals to develop weight-loss and diabetes drugs. Lilly's deal also casts a spotlight on the pharmaceutical sector's interest in AI for drug development. In November, Lilly announced a $345mn deal with a subsidiary of XtalPi, a Shanghai-based biotech. The deal gives Lilly access to the company's AI platform. Speaking at a conference in March, Lilly chief financial officer Lucas Montarce said the company "[is] investing heavily" in AI for research and development. "But it will take more time" to get AI drugs from a research phase to clinical testing, he said. In its annual report in February, Lilly added new language warning that "there are significant risks involved in developing and deploying AI". The company said it cannot assure its investments in AI will be effective or profitable. Additionally, "AI may enable new competitors in drug discovery and enhance the capabilities of existing competitors, thereby broadening and intensifying competitive dynamics", Lilly said. Lilly's diabetes drug Mounjaro was the world's second-biggest by sales in 2025. Sales of Lilly's diabetes and obesity drugs surged last year, propelling the company's market capitalisation to $1tn. But Lilly's shares have pared gains this year and its stock is down 17 per cent so far in 2026. Lilly is facing new competition from Novo, which launched its first pill for weight loss earlier this year. Founded in 2014 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Insilico was an early leader in developing drugs with artificial intelligence before OpenAI and Anthropic ignited a frenzy for AI technology. Insilico disclosed in December it is unprofitable, but sees licensing deals as a key source of revenue.

Eli Lilly reaches $2.75 billion deal with Insilico to bring AI-developed drugs to the global market

BEIJING -- U.S. pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly has reached a $2.75 billion deal to bring drugs developed using artificial intelligence by Hong Kong-based Insilico Medicine to the global market. The agreement will give Insilico $115 million up front, with the remainder subject to regulatory and commercial milestones, along with royalties on future sales, according to the companies' announcement Monday. Insilico has developed at least 28 drugs using generative AI tools, with nearly half already at a clinical stage, Alex Zhavoronkov, founder and CEO of Insilico, told CNBC. The company went public in Hong Kong in December. Its shares are up more than 50% year-to-date. "In many ways, Lilly is better than us in some areas of AI," Zhavoronkov said, noting the U.S. pharma giant has "one person" who has brought biology, chemistry and automation under one roof. He added that as part of the deal, Insilico will join Lilly's Gateway Labs community for biotech development. The two companies have worked together since signing an AI-based software licensing agreement in 2023. "This collaboration allows us to explore novel mechanisms and accelerate the identification of promising therapeutic candidates across multiple disease areas," Andrew Adams, group vice president of Molecule Discovery at Lilly, said in a statement. He called Insilico's AI-enabled discovery "a powerful complement" to Lilly's clinical development. Eli Lilly CEO David A. Ricks attended a high-level forum in Beijing earlier this month, just weeks after the company announced plans to invest $3 billion in China over the next decade. The company reported that slightly less than 3% of its revenue came from China last year.

Eli Lilly bets on AI-powered drugs in new deal with Insilico Medicine

Eli Lilly has partnered with AI biotech Insilico Medicine for exclusive global rights to develop and commercialise medicines designed entirely by artificial intelligence. Eli Lilly and Insilico Medicine have struck a new deal on AI-driven drug discovery, the companies announced on Sunday. Under the agreement, worth up to $2.75 billion (€2.39 billion), the American firm Eli Lilly will use Insilico's artificial intelligence (AI) platform to accelerate the discovery and development of novel therapeutics across multiple therapeutic areas. "From its inception, Insilico Medicine has been developing deep learning for end-to-end drug discovery," said Alex Zhavoronkov, founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine. "Working with Lilly, we aim to deliver transformative therapies that treat diseases with high unmet need. This collaboration is a testament to the power of AI in tackling the most complex challenges in human health," he added. Insilico Medicine is a global, clinical-stage, generative AI-driven biotechnology company. It integrates biology, chemistry, and clinical analysis through its Pharma.AI platform to identify novel disease targets and design new drug molecules. Under the deal, Eli Lilly will have exclusive worldwide license for the development, manufacturing, and commercialisation of novel oral therapeutics in preclinical development for certain indications, the companies said. "Insilico's AI-enabled discovery capabilities represent a powerful complement to Lilly's deep expertise in clinical development across multiple therapeutic areas," said Andrew Adams, group vice president of molecule discovery at Eli Lilly. He added that the partnership would allow the company to explore novel mechanisms and accelerate the identification of promising therapeutic candidates across multiple disease areas. Under the terms of the agreement, Insilico will receive a $115 million (€100 million) upfront payment, which could be increased by development, regulatory, and commercial milestones that could bring the total deal value to approximately $2.75 billion (€2.39 billion), plus tiered royalties on future sales.

Pharma Giant Eli Lilly Is Paying $2.75 Billion for Drugs Designed by AI - Here's What It Gets Them

Eli Lilly is betting big that generative AI can do more than just write code and create images. It can design cures for diseases. The pharma giant just reached a $2.75 billion deal with Hong Kong-based Insilico Medicine to bring AI-discovered drugs to market, reports CNBC. Insilico gets $115 million up front, with the rest tied to hitting regulatory milestones and future sales. Insilico has developed 28 drugs using generative AI, with nearly half already in clinical trials. The company went public in Hong Kong in December and its shares are up more than 50% this year. CEO Alex Zhavoronkov said AI can synthesize molecules faster than traditional methods and cut years off research time. The deal builds on a partnership that started in 2023. Eli Lilly called Insilico's AI-enabled discovery "a powerful complement" to its own development work. It also comes as Eli Lilly doubles down on China, announcing plans earlier this month to invest $3 billion there over the next decade.

Eli Lilly to sign $2 billion deal for AI drug development with Hong Kong's Insilico Medicine: Report

Lilly will acquire exclusive ⁠rights to sell a GLP-1 drug for diabetes from Insilico Medicine, the FT report said, citing sources familiar with the ⁠matter. Eli Lilly will sign a $2 billion deal with Hong Kong-listed biotech ⁠Insilico ⁠Medicine , which uses artificial intelligence for drug discovery, the Financial Times reported ⁠on Sunday. Lilly will acquire exclusive ⁠rights to sell a GLP-1 drug for diabetes from Insilico Medicine, the FT report said, citing sources familiar with the ⁠matter. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

Eli Lilly Strikes $2.75B Deal To Bring AI-Developed Drugs Globally - Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY)

Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE:LLY) has reportedly finalized a $2.75 billion agreement to introduce AI-developed drugs from Hong Kong's Insilico Medicine to the global market. Details Of The Deal The collaboration between the two firms began with an AI-based software licensing deal in 2023. Andrew Adams, Lilly's group vice president of Molecule Discovery, emphasized the partnership's potential to explore new mechanisms and accelerate therapeutic candidate identification. What Does Insilico Do? Insilico's AI development occurs outside China, in Canada and the Middle East, while early preclinical drug development is conducted in China. Zhavoronkov stated that AI can expedite molecule synthesis compared to traditional methods. Zhavoronkov noted that Eli Lilly excels in certain AI areas, highlighting the company's integration of biology, chemistry, and automation. As part of the agreement, Insilico will join Lilly's Gateway Labs for biotech development. Critical Timing Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Lilly and Novo Show How AI Is Rewiring Big Pharma | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. Eli Lilly signed a $2.75 billion partnership with Hong Kong-based AI drug discovery firm Insilico Medicine, giving it exclusive rights to develop and commercialize drugs built on Insilico's Pharma.ai platform. As reported by PYMNTS on Monday (March 30), the platform has already produced at least 28 drug candidates using generative AI, nearly half of which have entered clinical testing. Novo Nordisk, meanwhile, is running AI agents inside its live clinical trials to cut weeks or months from development timelines. Together, the moves signal that AI in pharma is no longer a productivity tool layered on top of existing processes. It is becoming the process itself. Eli Lilly's AI strategy started on the factory floor. Facing a federally declared shortage of its GLP-1 drugs that lasted from late 2022 through 2024, the company deployed digital twin technology, a virtual model of its manufacturing plant fed by real-time data, to identify production improvements it could test digitally before implementing them physically. It also used computer vision to photograph each autoinjector from multiple angles in rapid succession, catching defects that manual inspection would miss. The results showed up in revenue. Diogo Rau, Lilly's chief information and digital officer, told Forbes the company produced more GLP-1 product last year than it could have without AI, at volumes large enough to affect earnings. Mounjaro sales doubled year over year to $23 billion, while Zepbound revenue grew from $4.9 billion to $13.5 billion, with both drugs together accounting for more than half of Lilly's $65 billion in total revenue. The Insilico deal pushes AI further upstream into molecule design, including oral drug candidates that would offer a commercial advantage over injectable GLP-1s. "By deploying frontier AI technologies that scale from biomarkers to life models, world models of human and animal life, we can identify multi-purpose targets driving multiple diseases at the same time," said Alex Zhavoronkov, founder and CEO of Insilico. Novo Nordisk, which has generated nearly $100 billion in cumulative sales from Ozempic and Wegovy, is focused on compressing the clinical trial phase. The company spent roughly a year building AI agents trained on its own internal data and publicly available competitor disclosures, using software from German firm Celonis, which has raised $1.6 billion from investors including Accel, as The Information reported. Those agents, drawing on models from Anthropic, OpenAI and other providers, run inside active trials. They detect protocol gaps and incomplete data, alert trial leadership to risks before delays materialize and have begun handling analytical work previously outsourced to several hundred external contractors. Novo also partnered with Nvidia to access the Gefion sovereign AI supercomputer in Denmark, as announced by Nvidia, to run large-scale drug discovery workloads. Stephanie Bova, Novo's digital transformation officer, framed the time-to-market question in terms any CFO would recognize. "A week of time saved in getting to market can mean tens of millions if not hundreds of millions of dollars in peak revenue impact," she told The Information. "It's a race." Not every AI tool earns a full rollout. Novo restricted access to Found Data, an internal research tool powered by Anthropic's Claude that lets scientists scan decades of prior trial results for overlooked patterns, because running costs outpaced the value it delivered at scale. Bova was direct about the lesson. "There's been this mad dash to have AI use cases without thinking about whether it's the best use of your time and money to do it that way," she said. The GLP-1 race now provides the most concrete evidence available that AI deployed vertically, across discovery, manufacturing and clinical execution, generates competitive separation that AI used as a horizontal productivity layer cannot replicate.

Eli Lilly Makes $2.75 Billion Bet on AI-Powered Drug Discovery | PYMNTS.com

To that end, the company has struck a $2.75 billion deal, announced Sunday (March 29), with Hong Kong-based Insilico Medicine. The companies say this collaboration will use Insilico's artificial intelligence (AI) engine to accelerate the "discovery and development of novel therapeutics." The agreement gives Lilly exclusive license to develop, manufacture and market these drugs, with the companies teaming on a variety of research and development programs. "By deploying frontier AI technologies that scale from biomarkers to life models, world models of human and animal life, we can identify multi-purpose targets driving multiple diseases at the same time," Alex Zhavoronkov, founder and CEO of Insilico, said in a news release. "Working with Lilly, we aim to deliver transformative therapies that treat diseases with high unmet need. This collaboration is a testament to the power of AI in tackling the most complex challenges in human health." Speaking to CNBC about the partnership, Zhavoronkov said his company has used AI to develop at least 28 drugs, close to half of which are already at a clinical stage. "In many ways, Lilly is better than us in some areas of AI," he said, adding the pharmaceutical company has "one person" who has combined biology, chemistry and automation under one roof. The partnership is the latest example of how the pharmaceutical sector is "moving from AI experiments to real operating use cases," as PYMNTS wrote recently. In addition to its agreement with Insilico, Eli Lilly has also, with Nvidia, committed $1 billion over five years to finance "the talent, infrastructure and computing needed to tackle bottlenecks in AI-based drug discovery," that report added. Another pharma giant, Roche, is deploying upwards of 3,500 Nvidia Blackwell GPUs across cloud and on-premises systems in the U.S. and Europe to accelerate R&D, diagnostics and manufacturing efficiency. Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote last week about new AI-health offerings from the likes of Amazon and OpenAI amid increased consumer usage of artificial intelligence for medical needs. As that report noted, around 60% of American adults turned to AI tools for health reasons in the last three months. And roughly 70% of AI health conversations occur outside clinic hours, and roughly 1.6 million to 1.9 million messages each week on ChatGPT deal with health insurance questions, according to earlier PYMNTS coverage.

Eli Lilly signs $2.75 billion drug discovery deal with InSilico By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) signed a drug discovery agreement with Hong Kong-listed InSilico that could reach a total value of $2.75 billion, the companies announced Sunday. Under the terms of the agreement, InSilico will receive an upfront payment of $115 million. The company is eligible for additional milestone payments that could bring the total deal value to approximately $2.75 billion, along with tiered royalties on future sales, according to an exchange filing. Eli Lilly will obtain exclusive worldwide rights to manufacture and sell oral treatments across multiple therapeutic areas. The treatments will be discovered using InSilico's artificial intelligence model, Pharma.AI. The companies will collaborate on multiple research and development programs focused on targets selected by Lilly. This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

InSilico, Lilly ink AI drug discovery deal worth up to $2.75 billion By Investing.com

Investing.com - InSilico Medicine Cayman TopCo (HK:3696) announced a global licensing and AI-driven drug discovery collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY), in a deal that could be worth up to $2.75 billion, according to a company filing. Under the agreement, Lilly will receive exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize a portfolio of novel oral therapies currently in preclinical stages. The collaboration will also see both companies jointly work on multiple research programs using InSilico's artificial intelligence platform alongside Lilly's drug development expertise. InSilico is set to receive an upfront payment of $115 million, with additional milestone payments tied to development, regulatory progress, and commercialization. The deal also includes tiered royalties on future product sales, reflecting the long-term commercial potential of the partnership. The partnership highlights growing interest among major pharmaceutical companies in leveraging AI to accelerate drug discovery. AI platforms are increasingly being used to identify targets, design molecules, and shorten development timelines, potentially reducing costs and improving success rates in bringing new therapies to market. InSilico, which listed in Hong Kong in late 2025, focuses on integrating AI and automation into drug discovery across areas such as oncology, immunology, and metabolic diseases.

Eli Lilly Strikes AI Drug Discovery Deal With InSilico Worth Up to $2.75 Billion -- Update

Eli Lilly signed a drug discovery deal with InSilico that the Hong Kong-listed company says could be valued at as much as $2.75 billion, as global pharmaceutical giants continue to tap China's drug development pipeline. Under the agreement announced Sunday, InSilico will receive an upfront payment of $115 million and is eligible for additional milestone payments that could put the total deal value at about $2.75 billion, along with tiered royalties on future sales, it said in an exchange filing. Eli Lilly will obtain exclusive worldwide rights to manufacture and sell best-in-class oral treatments across multiple therapeutic areas discovered using InSilico's artificial intelligence model, Pharma.AI. The companies will also work on multiple research-and-development programs focused on targets selected by Lilly. Shares of InSilico, which specializes in developing drug discovery technology powered by AI and automation, surged 15% in early trade on Monday before paring gains. The stock was last up 4.4%. InSilico, which conducts its drug R&D in China and is backed by Hong Kong government's investment arm, is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., and has operations across North America, Greater China and the Middle East. The deal marks Lilly's latest effort to tap China's vast pharmaceutical research base. The agreement extends Lilly and InSilico's partnership, which began in 2023, and builds on their AI drug discovery deal announced late last year, valued at up to $100 million. The U.S. drugmaker has pledged to invest $3 billion to expand its supply-chain capacity in the country. It has also struck several high-profile deals with Chinese drugmakers, including a partnership with Innovent Biologics to develop new treatments targeting cancer and immune system diseases that could be worth up to $8.5 billion. China has become a major hub for drug innovation in recent years, prompting global drugmakers to sign a flurry of licensing deals with Chinese companies. AstraZeneca has disclosed plans to invest $15 billion in China, alongside a licensing deal worth up to $4.7 billion with CSPC Pharmaceuticals inked earlier this year. Meanwhile, Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical struck a deal valued at up to $11.4 billion with Innovent late last year. Growth in Chinese companies' development of first-in-class drug candidates has significantly outpaced that of their counterparts in the U.S., Europe and Japan, said Cui Cui, Jefferies's head of Asia healthcare research. "We believe Chinese biotechs are reshaping the U.S. biopharma landscape," she said, adding that assets from China are easing pricing pressures for multinational drugmakers in a timely and cost-effective way. "Insilico's AI-enabled discovery capabilities represent a powerful complement to Lilly's deep expertise in clinical development across multiple therapeutic areas," said Andrew Adams, Eli Lilly vice president of molecule discovery. InSilico raised 2.28 billion Hong Kong dollars, equivalent to US$291.1 million, in its initial public offering in the Asian financial hub last year. The IPO was backed by Eli Lilly's Asian venture arm, in addition to investors including Tencent and Temasek Holdings.