Insilico Medicine and Eli Lilly and Company enter a $2.75B AI-driven collaboration to accelerate discovery of novel oral therapeutics across multiple disease areas.
Written By: Samiksha Jadhav BPharm
Reviewed By: Pharmacally Editorial Team
Insilico Medicine has entered a drug discovery collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company to advance the development of novel oral therapeutics using artificial intelligence across multiple disease areas.
The partnership will leverage Insilico’s generative AI-powered Pharma.AI platform to identify and optimize drug candidates from early discovery through preclinical development. Under the agreement, Lilly will receive an exclusive worldwide license to develop, manufacture, and commercialize select assets, positioning the programs as potentially best-in-class oral therapies.
In addition, the companies will jointly pursue multiple R&D programs focused on targets selected by Lilly. The collaboration combines Insilico’s end-to-end AI-driven discovery capabilities with Lilly’s clinical development expertise and deep disease-area knowledge, with the goal of accelerating timelines from target identification to candidate nomination.
“From its inception, Insilico Medicine has been developing deep learning for end-to-end drug discovery,” said Alex Zhavoronkov. “By deploying frontier AI technologies that scale from biomarkers to life models, we can identify multi-purpose targets driving multiple diseases. Working with Lilly, we aim to deliver transformative therapies for diseases with high unmet need.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Insilico will receive an upfront payment of $115 million and is eligible for development, regulatory, and commercial milestones that could bring the total deal value to approximately $2.75 billion, along with tiered royalties on future product sales.
This collaboration also reflects Eli Lilly and Company’s broader strategy to integrate advanced AI into its drug discovery pipeline. The company has been expanding its AI capabilities through partnerships, including collaborations with NVIDIA to leverage accelerated computing and generative AI for molecular modeling and simulation. By combining external AI platforms with its internal R&D infrastructure, Lilly is building a more scalable and data-driven discovery engine aimed at identifying novel targets, shortening development timelines, and improving the probability of clinical success.
“Insilico’s AI-enabled discovery capabilities represent a powerful complement to Lilly’s deep expertise in clinical development across multiple therapeutic areas,” said Andrew Adams. “This collaboration allows us to explore novel mechanisms and accelerate the identification of promising therapeutic candidates.”
The deal highlights the growing role of AI in reshaping early-stage drug discovery, particularly in enabling faster target identification and the design of differentiated therapeutic candidates for complex diseases.
Reference
Insilico Medicine Announces Global R&D Collaboration with Lilly, 29 March 2026, https://insilico.com/news/uiy12zcjg1-insilico-medicine-announces-global-rampd
About the Writer
Samiksha Vikram Jadhav is a B.Pharm graduate with a strong academic foundation in pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacology, and drug development. She has a keen interest in healthcare advancements, clinical research, medical writing, and emerging therapies. Her work focuses on presenting developments in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors through clear and accurate scientific communication.