Profluent & Eli Lilly Inks a Deal Worth $2.25 Bn to Develop AI-Designed Recombinases for Genetic Medicine

By integrating Profluent’s expertise in AI-based protein design with Lilly’s clinical and drug development capabilities in genetic medicines, the partnership seeks to expand the scope and scalability of programmable gene editing therapeutics.

US-based AI biotech firm Profluent has entered into a multi-program strategic collaboration with pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly to develop AI-designed recombinases for genetic medicine applications.

The partnership is valued at upto $2.25 billion and includes upfront payments, research and development, funding, and milestone-based royalties alongside tiered royalties on future product sales to Profluent.

The collaboration will leverage Profluent’s AI platform to design and optimize site-specific recombinase enzymes that enable precise DNA editing at targeted locations in the genome.

These AI-designed recombinases are expected to enhance advanced genetic therapies, including large-scale, precise DNA editing capabilities that remain challenging with conventional gene-editing technologies.

Further, by integrating Profluent’s expertise in AI-based protein design with Lilly’s clinical and drug development capabilities in genetic medicines, the partnership seeks to expand the scope and scalability of programmable gene editing therapeutics.

Under a partnership agreement, Profluents AI models will be leveraged to design site-specific recombinases for several genomic targets, while Lilly is expected to receive an exclusive license to advance these recombinases into preclinical development and beyond.

Founded in 2022, Emeryville, California-based Profluent is backed by leading investors including Altimeter Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Spark Capital, Insight Partners, Air Street Capital, AIX Ventures, and Convergent Ventures. The company focuses on using AI models to develop solutions with applications across medicine and other sectors.

Commenting on the new partnership, Ali Madani, co-founder and CEO of Profluent. "Our work with Lilly is aimed at unlocking these therapeutics previously thought impossible. This collaboration with Lilly demonstrates that our platform is ready to build the toolkit needed to scale genetic medicines. We're seeing strong demand from the pharmaceutical industry, and this partnership validates our approach to solving previously intractable problems."

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