The Essence of the Partnership and Mutual Evaluations
Under the terms of the agreement, Eli Lilly receives an exclusive global license to develop, manufacture, and commercialize “potentially best-in-class novel oral therapeutics” that are currently in preclinical studies.
Although the official statement does not disclose details of specific indications, Financial Times sources report that the deal involves developing a GLP-1 receptor agonist candidate for the treatment of diabetes. The two companies are already well acquainted: they have worked together since signing an AI-based software licensing agreement in 2023. Furthermore, Lilly acted as an anchor investor during Insilico’s recent IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX).
As part of the partnership, the companies will collaborate on several R&D programs, focusing on therapeutic targets selected by Eli Lilly. Insilico’s advanced drug discovery platform, Pharma.AI, will be actively utilized for this purpose.
Both parties highly value each other’s technological potential:
“In many ways, Lilly is better than us in some areas of AI. The U.S. pharma giant has brought biology, chemistry and automation under one roof. As part of the deal, Insilico will also join Lilly’s Gateway Labs community for biotech development.”
— Alex Zhavoronkov, Founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine
“This collaboration allows us to explore novel mechanisms and accelerate the identification of promising therapeutic candidates across multiple disease areas. Insilico’s AI-enabled discovery is a powerful complement to Lilly’s clinical development.”
— Andrew Adams, Group Vice President of Molecule Discovery at Eli Lilly
For Eli Lilly, this is the second major agreement with a Chinese AI company in recent months: last November, the company partnered with Shanghai-based Xtalpi in a $345 million deal.
The Global Trend Towards Chinese Biotechnology
The deal clearly reflects a powerful global trend: international pharmaceutical corporations are increasingly looking for opportunities to license promising developments from Chinese biotechs, which have become a crucial source of new drug candidates in recent years. According to Evaluate, the share of Chinese companies in global out-licensing deals has grown from a mere 3% in 2020 to an impressive 40% this year.
For Insilico Medicine itself, whose shares successfully debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at the end of December 2025, this is the second major deal with “Big Pharma” representatives recently. About three months ago, the company signed an oncology agreement with Servier with a $32 million upfront payment and a total potential of up to $888 million.
Strong Financial Position of Insilico
In its published financial report for 2025, Insilico reported signing business development contracts with leading multinational and Chinese biopharmaceutical companies totaling $1.3 billion.
The company’s revenue last year was $56 million, while research and development expenditures amounted to about $81 million. The company approached the end of the year with solid cash reserves of $393 million.
In addition to partnership projects, Insilico is actively advancing its own portfolio. Its lead internal project is rentosertib (ISM001-055), a small molecule TNIK inhibitor being developed for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The drug has already completed Phase 2a trials in China, and the launch of the Phase 3 clinical program is expected before the end of this year.
