Eli Lilly and PRISM BioLab have entered a licensing agreement to collaborate on the development of small molecule inhibitors for a protein-protein interaction (PPI) target.
Under the terms of the partnership, Tokyo-based PRISM is eligible to receive an upfront payment and up to $660 million in development milestones payments, as well as royalties on sales.
In exchange, Lilly will leverage PRISM’s proprietary PepMetics technology to discover small molecule inhibitors of a PPI target, with the option to add up to two more PPI targets.
PPIs, which represent a vast class of therapeutic targets both inside and outside the cell, were also a key player in Lilly’s $2.4 billion buyout of Dice Therapeutics this year. Dice’s DELSCAPE technology can optimize the design of small molecule therapeutics to modulate protein-protein interactions as effectively as systemic biologics — which means the company can discover and develop orally dosed medicines in a therapeutic area dominated by injectable medicines.