Pharmaceutical Executive Daily: Amplitude Therapeutics Partners with Eli Lilly

Welcome to Pharmaceutical Executive Daily, your quick briefing on the top news shaping the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry.

In today's Pharmaceutical Executive Daily, a pharma collaboration roundup covers Amplitude Therapeutics' RNA vaccine partnership with Eli Lilly and Chai Discovery's AI antibody design collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb, Dan Chancellor of Norstella argues that dealmaking has become a survival skill as pipeline productivity lags a $500 billion patent cliff, and Pharmaceutical Executive breaks down what this week's rare disease and specialty drug news reveals about where the industry is heading.

Two AI- and RNA-focused collaborations signal continued investment in platform partnerships this week. Amplitude Therapeutics has entered a strategic research collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company to develop trans-amplifying RNA, or taRNA, vaccines for infectious diseases, with Lilly taking exclusive commercialization rights and the option to add up to two additional targets. Separately, Chai Discovery has agreed to let Bristol Myers Squibb deploy its AI models for molecular folding and design across its antibody discovery portfolio, an effort BMS says will speed the path from concept to viable therapeutic candidates.

Dan Chancellor, vice president of thought leadership at Norstella, argues that dealmaking has become a survival skill for pharma as pipeline productivity fails to keep pace with a looming $500 billion patent cliff between 2026 and 2032. Chancellor points to a 32% drop in pipeline creation over five years even as R&D spending rose 45% to $790 billion, and contends that a rising share of Phase I failures reflects healthier portfolio discipline as companies kill weak assets before they get expensive.

Finally, Pharmaceutical Executive breaks down what this week's flurry of rare disease and specialty drug news signals about where the industry is heading, pointing to three durable trends: rare disease as a core commercial strategy rather than a niche pursuit, stepped deal structures that let buyers de-risk early-stage assets, and Chinese biotech's growing role across the innovation and biosimilar supply chain alike. The piece highlights Regeneron's FDA approval of Pasatru, only the second treatment ever approved for fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva and the first for adults, which cuts new bone lesions by up to 94% in the Phase III OPTIMA trial, alongside Bristol Myers Squibb's Zenbexus, the first FDA-approved CELMoD for multiple myeloma, and a $322 million biosimilar collaboration between China's Henlius and Sandoz.

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