Less than a week after announcing plans to bring Zepbound to TrumpRX, Eli Lilly and Company announced collaborations with MeiraGTx and SanegeneBio, respectively. The collaborations are expected to assist Lilly in developing and commercializing genetic medicines in its Ophthalmology pipeline, along with advancing RNAi candidates for metabolic diseases.^1,2

Lilly announces licensing and research collaboration with SanegeneBio

Lilly announced the first of its collaborations with SanegeneBio, focusing on advancing RNAi candidates for metabolic diseases, based on SanegeneBio's proprietary tissue selective delivery technology Ligand and Enhancer Assisted Delivery (LEAD).² SanegeneBio's LEAD platform holds the potential to generate breakthrough therapies for metabolic diseases with the ability to be administered subcutaneously as infrequently as twice per year.²

According to a press release, SanegeneBio will be responsible for the discovery and identification of optimized LEAD-based RNAi molecules for each program, while Lilly is expected to handle IND-enabling studies, clinical development, and commercialization. Under the terms of the agreement, SanegeneBio is set to receive an upfront payment and equity investment, along with eligibility to receive near-term milestone payments. SanegeneBio will also be eligible to receive upwards of $1.2 billion in discovery, development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on future product sales.²

"Partnering with Lilly represents a strong validation of our innovative and differentiated LEAD platform for tissue-selective delivery of RNAi medicines" said Weimin Wang, chief executive officer and founder of SanegeneBio. "We look forward to working closely with Lilly, a global leader in innovation for metabolic diseases, to unlock novel approaches for the treatment of metabolic disorders and to advance durable, disease-modifying therapies for patients worldwide."

Lilly announces collaboration with MeiraGtx

The second of Lilly’s recent collaborations is with MeiraGTx, forming a partnership to develop and commercialize ophthalmology medications.¹ Per the terms of the collaboration agreement, MeiraGTx is granting Lilly the worldwide exclusive rights to its AAV-AIPL1 program for the treatment of Leber congenital amaurosis 4 (LCA4) owing to genetic deficiency of Aryl-hydrocarbon-interacting protein-like 1 (AIPL1).¹

Lilly is also expected to receive exclusive access and worldwide rights to MeiraGTx’s gene therapy technologies for use in ophthalmology with certain targets named by Lilly, including intravitreal capsids developed in-house at MeiraGTx, and bespoke promoters including AI-generated promoters for specific cells in the retina.¹ As part of the collaboration, MeiraGTx will also grant Lilly specific rights to its proprietary riboswitch technology for use in gene editing in the eye.¹¹

As mentioned in a press release, MeiraGTx’s riboswitch technology platform is broadly applicable to any therapeutic protein, allowing for precise, titratable in-vivo production of the therapeutic protein or gene editing nuclease from a gene template controlled by oral dosing of a small molecule inducer.

According to the terms of the agreement, MeiraGTx is set to receive an upfront payment of $75 million, along with eligibility to receive upwards of $400 million in total milestone payments and tiered royalties on licensed products.¹

“Ophthalmology is an emerging area of interest for Lilly,” said Andrew Adams, Lilly group vice president, molecule discovery. “We are excited to partner with MeiraGTx to bring transformative treatments to patients around the world suffering from eye diseases, starting with AAV-AIPL1, which has shown the unprecedented ability to restore vision in children who were born legally blind.”

Sources

1. MeiraGTx Enters into Strategic Collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company to Develop and Commercialize Genetic Medicines in Ophthalmology MeiraGTx November 10, 2025 https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/11/10/3184353/0/en/MeiraGTx-Enters-into-Strategic-Collaboration-with-Eli-Lilly-and-Company-to-Develop-and-Commercialize-Genetic-Medicines-in-Ophthalmology.html
2. SanegeneBio Announces RNAi Licensing and Research Collaboration with Lilly SanegeneBio November 8, 2025 https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sanegenebio-announces-rnai-licensing-and-research-collaboration-with-lilly-302609299.html