Eli Lilly entered into a strategic research collaboration with Abbisko Therapeutics. ¹ The agreement also includes terms for potential licensing agreements from drugs developed through the collaboration.

What are the terms of Eli Lilly and Abbisko’s collaboration?

According to Abbisko, the agreement says that it will use its early-stage drug discovery platform and R&D ecosystem to advance potential new treatments across multiple targets. Lilly will select the targets and provide upfront payments. Abbisko also has the opportunity to earn various milestone payments for drugs that hit certain development, regulatory, and commercial milestones.

The two companies previously entered into a similar agreement in 2022.

This is just the latest example of Eli Lilly partnering with a smaller biotech in order to utilize its drug development platform. Pharmaceutical Executive previously spoke with Silvia Taylor of Novavax about her company’s vaccine platform. During the conversation, she mentioned Eli Lilly’s interest in the area.

“Eli Lilly, the world's leading biopharma company, is now getting into vaccines themselves,” she explained. “So, despite the complexity and some of the risks and the challenges in the macro environment, what doesn't change is the fact that vaccines remain the number one most cost-effective and simple intervention to prevent disease.

What strategy is Eli Lilly using to expand its pipeline?

Aside from collaborations, Eli Lilly has also made a number of acquisitions this year in order to expand its pipeline. In June, Lilly announced the completion of its acquisition of Contessa Pharmaceuticals.²

In a press release, Lilly executive vice president and president of Lilly Neuroscience Carole Ho said, “The orexin system plays a fundamental role in human brain health, governing wakefulness, alertness, and the stability of sleep in ways that, when disrupted, can be profoundly disabling. For people living with narcolepsy, that disruption is severe and life-altering. Orexin's reach extends further to diseases impacted by disrupted sleep, and so does the unmet need. Centessa has built a clinical portfolio with the depth to explore both, and Lilly intends to pursue that potential with urgency."

In April, Lilly announced an agreement to acquire Ajax Therapeutics, bringing Ajax’s lead asset AJ1-11095 into Lilly’s pipeline.³

In a press release issued at the time, Lilly executive vice president, president of Lilly Oncology, and head of corporate business development Jacob Van Naarden said, “As a founding strategic investor in Ajax, Lilly has long believed in the approach and is excited about the potential for AJ1-11095 to deliver deeper and more durable efficacy than available treatments with a tolerability profile that would allow for patients to remain on therapy longer and be used across both the first- and second-line settings. We look forward to the presentation of clinical proof-of-concept data later in 2026, rapidly advancing AJ1-11095 into registrational clinical trials, and using our expertise in blood cancer to hopefully deliver another important new medicine to patients and hematologists."

In the same press release, Ajax Therepautics co-founder and CEO Martin Vogelbaum added, “We started Ajax to build on the work of its five scientific founders, including Ross Levine, MD, chief scientific officer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and chair of Ajax's scientific advisory board, who sought to develop a novel class of selective and more potent JAK2 inhibitors to address the significant unmet need of patients with MPNs. With a small but highly motivated team, we have successfully applied this work to the design and development of our highly selective, first-in-class Type II JAK2 inhibitor, AJ1-11095.We now look forward to Lilly advancing AJ1-11095 through the clinic and providing a much-needed new therapy for patients with MPNs.It has been an honor working with our employees and scientific advisors and we're grateful to our clinical investigators, and most importantly, the patients who have participated in our ongoing Phase 1 study, AJX-101."

Sources

1. Abbisko Therapeutics Deepens R&D Collaboration with Lilly. Abbisko. June 23, 2026. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/abbisko-therapeutics-deepens-rd-collaboration-with-lilly-302807976.html
2. Lilly completes acquisition of Centessa Pharmaceuticals to advance treatments for sleep-wake disorders. Eli Lilly. June 24, 2026. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lilly-completes-acquisition-of-centessa-pharmaceuticals-to-advance-treatments-for-sleep-wake-disorders-302808668.html
3. Lilly to acquire Ajax Therapeutics to advance outcomes for patients with myelofibrosis and polycythemia vera. Eli Lilly. April 27, 2026. Accessed June 24, 2026. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lilly-to-acquire-ajax-therapeutics-to-advance-outcomes-for-patients-with-myelofibrosis-and-polycythemia-vera-302753832.html