Eli Lilly and Co. has entered an agreement with Hydra Biosciences to acquire all assets related to Hydra’s preclinical program of TRPA1 antagonists, part of the Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) family of ion channels being studied for the potential treatment of chronic pain syndromes.

“At Lilly, we are committed to developing new treatment options for people struggling with chronic pain,” said Mark Mintun, M.D., vice president of pain and neurodegeneration research at Lilly. “Through the acquisition of this promising pre-clinical program from Hydra, we will advance our understanding of the TRP pathway in pain signaling, and will seek to initiate clinical studies in the near term.”

“We are very excited to be transitioning this program into Lilly, given their depth of experience in drug development and commercialization,” said Russell Herndon, Hydra Biosciences president and chief executive officer. “Because of Lilly’s commitment to finding novel treatments for chronic pain, we can’t think of a better organization to advance these assets.”  

Financial terms were not disclosed.