Eli Lilly Strikes Drug Delivery Collaboration Worth Up to $1.1 Billion
Key Facts
Eli Lilly has entered into a collaboration with Metis TechBio to develop technologies that deliver drugs to specific tissues, potentially worth up to $1.1 billion, Reuters reported. The agreement, announced on October 19, 2026, aims to improve the delivery of treatments to their intended tissues using Metis's AI-powered platform. The collaboration includes developing technologies for lipid nanoparticle-based treatments, according to details of the agreement reported by the agency. The development coincides with strength in the U.S. stock market's healthcare sector, with Reuters reporting that the S&P healthcare index hit a record high during the session. On the research front, Lilly also announced that a study of its drug Omvoh in children with ulcerative colitis met its primary endpoint of clinical remission.
Under the agreement, Metis is entitled to an upfront payment in the low tens of millions of dollars, according to Reuters. Most of the collaboration's potential value is tied to payments contingent on product development, regulatory approval and commercialization milestones. Metis is also entitled to tiered royalties on annual net sales of products resulting from the collaboration. The agency described the royalties as a "single-digit percentage," tiered under the terms of the agreement. The partnership draws on Metis's AI-powered drug delivery platform to improve the targeting of lipid nanoparticle-based treatments to intended tissues.
Lilly said the study of Omvoh in children with ulcerative colitis "met the primary endpoint of clinical remission." In a separate announcement concerning the drug, the company presented results from a post hoc analysis of treatment data in patients who had responded to induction therapy. The analysis covered the maintenance phase, after those patients were re-randomized to continue receiving Omvoh or receive a placebo. The proportion of Omvoh recipients who achieved comprehensive disease control was 27.7%, according to the company's statement on the analysis results. The corresponding proportion among patients who received a placebo was 14%, according to the comparison Lilly provided in its announcement. This finding concerns comprehensive disease control in the post hoc analysis, while the announcement on the pediatric study concerns achievement of the clinical remission endpoint.
Omvoh previously received U.S. approval for a simplified maintenance regimen for adults with ulcerative colitis, according to Lilly's announcement. The approved regimen allows treatment to be administered through a single monthly injection, replacing the previous two-injection regimen. In its approval statement, the company said Omvoh "now offers patients a simplified maintenance treatment experience," with approval of the new monthly injection method. Lilly's efforts in inflammatory bowel disease also include studies combining mirikizumab, the active ingredient in Omvoh, with other treatments. The company said it was advancing these studies as part of its work to develop treatments for inflammatory bowel disease.
The research developments and collaboration with Metis follow a 48% year-on-year increase in Lilly's revenue in the second quarter of 2026 to $23.0 billion. The company attributed revenue growth primarily to higher sales volumes of Mounjaro and Zepbound, according to its financial results statement for the period. Across its global operations, sales volumes rose 60% compared with the second quarter of 2025, according to figures announced by Lilly. This expansion in volumes sold was offset by a 13% decline in realized prices globally over the same period. Revenue growth thus came alongside higher sales volumes, despite lower realized prices compared with the corresponding period a year earlier.
In its second-quarter results statement, Lilly raised its 2026 revenue forecast range to between $85 billion and $87 billion. The company scheduled its third-quarter financial results for October 29, 2026, according to its published investor events calendar. The announced schedule includes an accompanying earnings call, alongside disclosure of the company's performance during the new financial period. The earnings call is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Daylight Time, according to the schedule announced by Lilly. Following the results announcement and accompanying call, the company plans to hold an Innovation Day on December 7, 2026, among its upcoming announced investor events.