Innovent Biologics, a biopharmaceutical company that makes medicines for diseases like cancer, autoimmune diseases, and heart conditions, has announced a new partnership with Eli Lilly to develop new treatments for cancer and immune system diseases. This is the seventh time the two companies have worked together, and it strengthens their long-term partnership to create new medicines for patients around the world.
In this collaboration, the companies will use their strengths to speed up the development of new medicines. Innovent will lead the development of these medicines in China and take them through early clinical trials (Phase 2). After that, Lilly will have exclusive rights to develop and sell the medicines in countries outside of Greater China, while Innovent keeps the rights in Greater China.
Innovent will receive $350 million upfront, and could earn up to $8.5 billion in future payments depending on the success of the medicines. They will also earn royalties from sales outside of Greater China.
Executive Statement
According to Dr. Michael Yu, Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO of Innovent, they are delighted to partner with Lilly, their trusted global pharmaceutical partner for over 10 years, to pursue novel medicines to improve treatment outcomes for patients with cancer and immune disorders. This alliance moves beyond traditional licensing to create a seamless, end-to-end innovation ecosystem that combines their agile discovery and early-stage development engine with Lilly's extensive global scale and creates a highly efficient model for cross-border synergy. This partnership validates Innovent's R&D capabilities and allows them to accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into impactful global medical solutions together with their partner, with the ultimate goal of bringing world-class medicines to patients across the globe.