Genetic Leap, Lilly partner to expedite genetic medicine development with AI

AI and RNA genetic-medicine company Genetic Leap is teaming up with pharma giant Eli Lilly to develop genetic medicine therapeutics. 

According to the two companies, the partnership expands on a pilot program utilizing Genetic Leap’s RNA-targeted AI platform, designed to produce oligonucleotide drugs counter to targets chosen by Lilly in crucial therapeutic areas. 

Lilly will provide Genetic Leap with as much as $409 million dollars in upfront commercial, development, regulatory and clinical payments and tiered royalties.

According to the company, RNA plays a key role in orchestrating essential biological processes, and holds significant potential in addressing critical diseases that established drugs have not targeted effectively.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Lilly and deeply share their strong commitment to developing RNA medicines,” Dr. Bertrand Advance, CEO and founder of Genetic Leap, said in a statement.

“Our primary goal in building the Genetic Leap AI platform is to accelerate the development of life-saving medicines for patients and this collaboration with Lilly’s talented and savvy R&D team takes us significantly closer to that goal.”

THE LARGER TREND

In 2022, Genetic Leap collaborated with Astellas Pharma to develop novel RNA-targeted small molecule therapeutic candidates against an undisclosed oncology target. Genetic Leap deployed its platform to discover and validate RNA-targeted small molecules against an undisclosed oncology target selected by Astellas.

Another company involved in AI/RNA genetic medicine is Canadian startup Deep Genomics. It scored $180 million in Series C funding for its artificial intelligence technology, designed to help program and prioritize transformational RNA therapeutics for genetic diseases.

The company also developed a proprietary platform, AI Workbench, that decodes the complexity of RNA biology to find novel targets, mechanisms and molecules inaccessible through traditional methods.

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