Lilly offers up to $1.9B in new drug discovery deal with Abbisko

Eli Lilly has expanded its relationship with Shanghai-based Abbisko Therapeutics in a new multi-target drug discovery and licensing deal worth up to $1.9 billion in potential milestone and royalty payments.

Under the agreement, Abbisko will use its early-stage discovery engine and R&D platform to discover and conduct early development on small-molecule drug candidates against multiple targets chosen by Lilly, primarily in oncology and other therapeutic areas.

Lilly will pay an undisclosed upfront fee to Abbisko and up to $1.9 billion in development, regulatory, and commercialization milestone payments, plus tiered royalties on annual net sales of any resulting products that reach the market.

This collaboration builds on a prior 2022 partnership between the two companies on a small-molecule program for cardiometabolic disease and represents a strategic move by Lilly to leverage fast early‑stage development in China to expand its global pipeline.

Abbisko’s shares rose about 4% in Hong Kong following the announcement of the new deal.