Eli Lilly backs Creyon’s quantum chemistry platform in $1B RNA drug deal

Creyon Bio, Inc. (Creyon) has announced a landmark global licensing and multi-target research collaboration with pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly). This partnership will focus on a broad range of diseases and marks a key moment in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in nucleic acid drug development. Together, they aim to advance the discovery, development, and commercialisation of RNA-targeted oligonucleotide (oligo) therapies. 

AI-driven innovation to accelerate drug discovery

At the core of this collaboration is Creyon’s proprietary AI-Powered Oligo Engineering Engine, an industry-first platform designed to accelerate the design and optimisation of RNA-targeted drug candidates. Unlike traditional trial-and-error approaches, Creyon’s technology utilises quantum chemistry principles to streamline the development process and reduce timelines.

“We are pleased to partner with Lilly to advance our AI-designed oligos with the goal of making therapies safer and more effective for patients,” said Serge Messerlian, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Creyon Bio. “This partnership marks an important milestone for Creyon as we work to advance our RNA-targeted oligo therapy pipeline to the clinic for both rare and common diseases.”

Swagatam Mukhopadhyay, Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer, emphasised the technological edge Creyon brings to the table: “Creyon has built an industry-first and only oligo engineering engine to efficiently design RNA-targeted oligo therapies using quantum chemistry principles rather than relying on traditional trial-and-error screening processes to significantly accelerate development timelines.”

A multi-billion-dollar opportunity in precision medicine

Under the terms of the agreement, Lilly will provide Creyon with a $13 million upfront payment, which includes both cash and equity investment. Additionally, Creyon stands to receive more than $1 billion in potential development and commercialisation milestone payments, contingent upon the achievement of specified goals.

Lilly will be granted exclusive rights to lead therapeutic candidates for each target under the agreement. Should Lilly choose to proceed beyond defined development milestones, it will take on responsibility for further research, clinical development, and global commercialisation of the selected therapies.

This collaboration not only solidifies Creyon’s position as a leader in AI-driven drug discovery but also highlights the growing industry confidence in next-generation RNA-targeted therapeutics. The partnership signals a shared commitment to innovation to deliver transformative treatments to patients around the world.