BOSTON, Mass. — Nimbus Therapeutics said it has entered into a multi-year research collaboration and exclusive worldwide license agreement with Eli Lilly and Company to develop a novel oral treatment for obesity and other metabolic diseases.
The new agreement builds on a prior collaboration between the two companies focused on AMP-activated protein kinase in cardiometabolic disease. Under the expanded partnership, Nimbus will apply its computational chemistry and structure-based drug design platform to an early-stage small-molecule discovery program aimed at addressing an unmet need in obesity.
“We are pleased to deepen our collaboration with Nimbus, a team that has demonstrated exceptional ability to tackle complex drug discovery challenges,” said Ruth Gimeno, group vice president of diabetes and metabolic research and development at Lilly. “Working together to develop this novel obesity therapy represents an important addition to Lilly’s efforts to advance innovative treatment options for patients with metabolic disorders.”
Nimbus said its approach integrates AI-driven predictive models with structure-based design through collaboration among computational scientists, medicinal chemists, pharmacologists, and translational biologists.
“At Nimbus, computational scientists, medicinal chemists, pharmacologists and translational biologists work together to integrate AI-driven predictive models with structure-based design to develop novel small molecules with best-in-class potential,” said Peter J. Tummino, Ph.D., president of research and development at Nimbus. “This integration has enabled us to consistently deliver optimized clinical candidates for difficult-to-drug targets. We are excited to collaborate with Lilly on another program, combining our discovery capabilities with their metabolic disease expertise to bring a much-needed new treatment to people with obesity and make a meaningful difference in their lives.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Nimbus is eligible to receive upfront and near-term milestone payments totaling $55 million. The company is also eligible to receive up to approximately $1.3 billion in additional development, commercial, and sales milestone payments, along with tiered royalties on global net sales.
