Innovent Biologics has announced a strategic Innovent-Lilly partnership with Eli Lilly and Company to advance the global development of new medicines in oncology and immunology. The agreement represents the seventh partnership between the two companies and introduces a new model to accelerate worldwide pipeline development.
Under the Innovent-Lilly partnership, Innovent will lead research and development activities from discovery through Phase 2 clinical proof of concept in China, leveraging its antibody technology platforms and clinical execution capabilities. Lilly will hold exclusive rights to develop and commercialize the resulting programs outside Greater China, while Innovent retains commercialization rights within Greater China.
“We’re delighted to partner with Lilly, our trusted global pharmaceutical partner for over 10 years, to pursue novel medicines to improve treatment outcomes for patients with cancer and immune disorders,” said Dr. Michael Yu, Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO of Innovent. “This alliance moves beyond traditional licensing to create a seamless, end-to-end innovation ecosystem that combines our agile discovery and early-stage development engine with Lilly’s extensive global scale and creates a highly efficient model for cross-border synergy. This partnership validates Innovent’s R&D capabilities and allows us to accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into impactful global medical solutions together with our partner, with the ultimate goal of bringing world-class medicines to patients across the globe.”
As part of the agreement, Innovent will receive a $350 million upfront payment and is eligible for development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments of up to approximately $8.5 billion, subject to the achievement of future milestones. Innovent will also be eligible to receive tiered royalties on net sales of each product outside Greater China.
