Creyon Bio and Eli Lilly Forge Partnership to Develop RNA-Targeted Oligonucleotide Therapies
Creyon Bio, Inc., a leader in innovative RNA-targeted therapies, has announced a transformative global licensing and multi-target research collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company, one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. The focus of the collaboration is the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel RNA-targeted oligonucleotide (oligo) therapies designed to treat a broad spectrum of diseases.
This partnership promises to reshape the landscape of nucleic acid drug development, leveraging cutting-edge AI-driven technology and quantum chemistry principles to accelerate the development of therapies for patients with both rare and common diseases.
Under the terms of this landmark agreement, Creyon Bio will deploy its industry-first AI-Powered Oligo Engineering Engine—a proprietary platform designed to optimize oligonucleotide therapies through unprecedented levels of precision and efficiency. By harnessing the power of quantum chemistry, this advanced system allows for the rapid design of RNA-targeted oligo drug candidates with a level of accuracy and on-time delivery that was previously unachievable in the field of nucleic acid drug development.
A Pioneering Partnership in Drug Development
The partnership marks a significant milestone for Creyon Bio, as the company continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in RNA-targeted therapy. With its innovative technology, Creyon is poised to enhance the safety and effectiveness of oligonucleotide-based therapies, potentially improving outcomes for a wide array of patient populations.
Serge Messerlian, Chairman and CEO of Creyon Bio, expressed the company’s enthusiasm about the collaboration: “We are pleased to partner with Eli Lilly to advance our AI-designed oligos with the goal of making therapies safer and more effective for patients. This partnership is an important step forward for Creyon as we work to advance our RNA-targeted oligo therapy pipeline and bring these promising new treatments to the clinic, addressing both rare and common diseases.”
The collaboration is also a significant achievement for Creyon’s Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer, Swagatam Mukhopadhyay, who emphasized the groundbreaking nature of the company’s technology. “Creyon has developed the industry’s only oligo engineering engine capable of efficiently designing RNA-targeted oligo therapies. This is made possible by applying quantum chemistry principles, rather than relying on traditional trial-and-error screening processes. This innovation has the potential to dramatically accelerate development timelines, making previously impossible advancements achievable,” Mukhopadhyay stated.
Creyon Bio’s AI-Powered Oligo Engineering Engine: A New Frontier in Drug Development
The AI-Powered Oligo Engineering Engine represents a revolutionary leap forward in the development of RNA-targeted therapies. Traditional approaches to oligonucleotide drug development have typically relied on a trial-and-error process, where researchers test various molecules to identify the most promising candidates. While effective, this method can be slow and resource-intensive, delaying the progress of drug development and increasing the risk of failure.
Creyon’s proprietary platform, however, bypasses the traditional trial-and-error approach by using quantum chemistry principles to design oligos in a highly targeted and predictive manner. By modeling the interactions between RNA molecules and oligonucleotides, the platform can predict how a given drug will behave at the molecular level, enabling researchers to identify promising candidates faster and with greater accuracy. This technology is poised to cut down on the time needed to bring new oligonucleotide therapies to market, allowing for faster patient access to potentially life-changing treatments.
Furthermore, Creyon’s platform is designed to handle a wide range of disease targets, from those associated with rare genetic disorders to common chronic diseases. The ability to rapidly design and optimize oligonucleotide drug candidates for a diverse set of indications makes this partnership with Eli Lilly a powerful one, with the potential to address a variety of unmet medical needs.
Terms of the Agreement: A Strategic and Profitable Collaboration
The agreement between Creyon Bio and Eli Lilly involves a substantial financial commitment and sets the stage for further milestones in the development of RNA-targeted therapies. As part of the partnership, Creyon Bio will receive an upfront payment of $13 million. This payment includes a combination of cash and the purchase of equity in Creyon, solidifying Lilly’s stake in the company and its commitment to the collaboration.
In addition to the upfront payment, Creyon stands to receive over $1 billion in potential development and commercialization payments, contingent on the achievement of specific milestones throughout the partnership. These payments represent a significant financial opportunity for Creyon, providing the company with the resources needed to further advance its pipeline of RNA-targeted therapies.
Lilly will be granted an exclusive license to lead the development of candidate drugs for each of the identified targets. Once certain milestones are met, Lilly will take over the responsibility for further research, development, and commercialization of the resulting therapies. This structure allows for a clear path forward in the development process, with Lilly’s extensive experience in drug commercialization and distribution ensuring that the therapies reach the patients who need them most.
The Future of RNA-Targeted Therapies: A New Era of Precision Medicine
The partnership between Creyon Bio and Eli Lilly is poised to drive significant advancements in the field of RNA-targeted therapies. By combining Creyon’s innovative AI-powered design capabilities with Lilly’s expertise in drug development and commercialization, the two companies aim to create therapies that are not only safer and more effective but also more accessible to patients around the world.
RNA-targeted therapies represent a rapidly growing class of medicines with the potential to address a wide range of diseases, including rare genetic disorders, cancers, and chronic conditions. By targeting the RNA molecules that control gene expression, these therapies can potentially “turn off” or “correct” faulty genes, offering a more precise and effective approach to treating diseases at the genetic level.
As RNA-based therapies continue to evolve, Creyon and Eli Lilly’s collaboration is expected to play a pivotal role in advancing this new frontier of precision medicine. The ability to rapidly design and optimize RNA-targeted oligos opens up exciting new possibilities for treating diseases that were once considered untreatable, offering hope to patients who have long been underserved by traditional therapies.
A Transformative Partnership for the Future of Medicine
The collaboration between Creyon Bio and Eli Lilly marks a significant moment in the evolution of RNA-targeted therapies. With the combination of Creyon’s revolutionary AI-Powered Oligo Engineering Engine and Lilly’s proven expertise in drug Creyon Bio development and commercialization, the two companies are poised to usher in a new era of precision medicine. This partnership has the potential to accelerate the development of life-saving therapies for a broad range of diseases, offering a brighter future for patients worldwide.
As Creyon continues to build on this momentum and expand its pipeline of RNA-targeted therapies, the collaboration with Eli Lilly is set to drive meaningful progress in the treatment of both rare and common diseases. With over $1 billion Creyon Bio in potential milestone payments and a shared vision for transforming drug development, Creyon and Lilly are poised to change the future of medicine, one breakthrough therapy at a time.
