Eli Lilly and Co. and Avidity Biosciences, Inc. have entered a global licensing and research collaboration focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of potential new medicines in immunology and other indications. 

The companies will leverage Avidity’s technology platform to progress new therapeutic approaches for clinical development and commercialization. Avidity’s platform seeks to combine the tissue selectivity of monoclonal antibodies and the precision of oligonucleotide-based therapeutics to potentially overcome barriers to the delivery of oligonucleotides and target genetic drivers of disease.

Avidity will receive $20 million upfront, as well as an investment of $15 million. Avidity is also eligible to receive approximately $405 million per target for development, regulatory and commercialization milestones, as well as royalties on sales.

“We are excited to expand our oligonucleotide research and development efforts through this strategic collaboration with Avidity,” said Andrew C. Adams, Ph.D., chief scientific officer for RNA therapeutics at Lilly. “Their expertise in studying the combination of monoclonal antibodies and oligonucleotide-based therapies represent a promising avenue of research toward development of new RNA-based medicines.”

“This collaboration with Lilly provides an exceptional opportunity to leverage Avidity’s proprietary AOC platform in order to generate new therapeutic targets in disease areas that have been challenging to pursue using oligonucleotide-based approaches,” said Kent Hawryluk, Avidity’s chief business officer. “Lilly’s extensive research, development, regulatory, and commercial capabilities make them an ideal partner, and we look forward to a long and productive relationship.”

This transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.