Lilly Bets $2.75 Billion on Chinese AI Drugmaker Insilico Medicine Following NVIDIA Collaboration

The past weekend, China's artificial intelligence (AI) Insilico Medicine announced that it has secured a major order from multinational pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly.

The agreement mainly focuses on a new oral therapeutic drug, but neither party wishes to disclose which field the molecule involved in this collaboration targets.

According to the agreement between both parties, Insilico Medicine will receive1.15Hundreds of millions of dollars in upfront payments, plus milestone payments, bring the total value of the deal to approximately27.5In addition to royalties.

This deal is not only a "large order," but it even triggered the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the antitrust review. The approval information is on2026Year3Month26Officially updated on the day. According toFTCOfficial Release,2026The threshold for annual transaction declarations is approximately1.3Billion US dollars.

This deal is also a major move for Eli Lilly. At the beginning of the year, Eli Lilly and the United StatesAIPharmaceutical EnterpriseNimbus TherapeuticsA similar collaboration existed before, but the upfront payment and total deal value were only half of this transaction. Previously, Eli Lilly's main collaborator was a global company like NVIDIA.AIGiant.

In addition to Eli Lilly, Sanofi also has a partnership with Insilico Medicine.10Billion-dollar large-scale cooperation. Compared with traditional innovative pharmaceutical companies, ChinaAIThe pharmaceutical industry seems to have quickly moved past the "low profit, high volume" phase, becoming a significant player in the global market, and its prices are not cheap.

“"Our products are good, but not cheap."Ren Feng, Co-CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of Insilico Medicine3Month30Day told Caixin that, withAIIn the pharmaceutical fieldPeer comparison,Their PricesIt is relatively high.

Why is Eli Lilly willing to pay1Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Down Payments to Bet on Chinese Companies? The Reasons Behind It Reflect Global TrendsAI Pharmaceutical Trends.

3Month29On the evening of [date], Insilico Medicine's announcement revealed that, through the aforementioned transaction, Eli Lilly and Company will obtain a global exclusive license for the development, production, and commercialization of a novel oral therapeutic drug currently in the preclinical development stage. The drug is designed for specific indications and has the potential to be a "best-in-class" treatment.

The industry speculates that the molecule co-developed by Insilico Medicine and Eli Lilly might be aGLP-1RTarget product. In3Month30During the earnings call on the morning of the day, Insilico Medicine disclosed in its presentation materials a pipeline for which global rights have been licensed to an "undisclosed partner," targeting GLP-1R, used for the treatment of metabolic diseases.

Lilly has placed a heavy bet in this field.1Month, Eli Lilly and the United StatesNimbus TherapeuticsThe cooperation involves the development of a novel oral therapy targeting obesity and other metabolic diseases within Eli Lilly's core pipeline. Initial payment for the deal5500Million USD (including recent milestone payments), with a potential total amount up to13Billion US dollars.

"Lilly is now wealthy and bold." An analyst from an investment firm believes that this might be part of Lilly's strategy in positioning its weight-loss and glucose-lowering products: "Pave your own path and leave no room for others."

Buying out all the promising products globally will make it more difficult for competitors to catch up.

Lilly is currently the pharmaceutical company with the highest global market value, reaching just in the U.S. stock market8377billion dollars. Its dual-target weight loss and blood sugar reductionGLP-1The drug Tirzepatide is2025The world's best-selling drug in terms of annual global sales is365Billion US dollars.

However, this sales volume was achieved by a weight-loss and glucose-lowering drug from Novo Nordisk.GLP-1The drug Semaglutide holds tightly, with Semaglutide's sales volume as361Billion USD, ranking second. In the coming years, competition in this track will become white-hot.

Insilico Medicine'sGLP-1RThe target product has completed the optimization of lead compounds and entered the clinical research application (IND) preparation stage. Essentially, Eli Lilly has purchased a "research and development acceleration voucher."

Insilico Medicine claims to utilize its Pharma.AI The platform has shortened the R&D cycle of certain drugs from the traditional3Year-6Years compressed to18months. What Lilly purchased is precisely this "speed," and the two parties will also collaborate on multiple R&D projects centered around targets selected by Lilly.

Eli Lilly and CompanyAIIt has a strong interest in the pharmaceutical industry. In just the past two years, it has initiated at least...10International cooperation projects, covering drug categories including muscle health, antibody design, and oncology drug development.

Lilly inAIThe most famous collaborator in the field is NVIDIA.2026Year1Month, the two parties jointly announced the establishment of the firstAIJoint Innovation Lab, Focused on UsingAITo address some of the most persistent challenges in the pharmaceutical industry, future investments will be made.10Billion US dollars;2025In the year, Eli Lilly collaborated with NVIDIA on the artificial intelligence supercomputer "AI factory", used to accelerate drug research and development.

Ren Feng told Caixin that,"We mainly provide high-quality services and deliveries with a relatively high success rate."

Compared to the previous“PPTStory", Enter2026 Year'sAIPharmaceuticals, ready for practical application.

In Insilico's pipeline, "there are now28IndividualPCC(Preclinical candidate drug)." Insilico Medicine founder and CEO Alex Zhavoronkov (Alex Zhavoronkov) Introduction.

From another perspective, Business Development (BD) is becoming ChinaAIAn important source of income for pharmaceutical companies also indicatesAIPharmaceutical Combat Power.

Insilico Medicine2025Year, Revenue5624Million USD (approximately3.89100 million yuan), of which the proportions of drug discovery and pipeline development both exceed40%。2026From the beginning of the year to date, the companyIt has been achieved.10More than one external cooperation project, with a total amount exceeding40Billion US dollars。

ChinaAIThe other company in the pharmaceutical twin stars, XtalPi Holdings, in2025Year took overAIThe largest order in the history of pharmaceuticals, approximately59.9USD billion collaboration, upfront payment5100Million USD, the cooperating party isDoveTree MedicinesThe collaboration covers multiple pipelines (oncology, immunology, neurology, metabolism),AI + Robot Platform, Small Molecules + Antibodies, etc.

China AIThe成名作，is2022Year1Fosun Pharma's collaboration with Insilico Medicine in August is considered a significant move in China. AI The Beginning of the Internationalization of Pharmaceuticals.

The two parties agreed to jointly develop globally for multiple targets AI Drug. The amount of cooperation is1300Million USD upfront payment + Potential milestone. Although the amount is much less than Lilly's, this is the first time Insilico Medicine has proven itsPharma.AIThe platform can achieve large-scale commercial licensing.

Alex Zhavoronkov, Founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine (Alex Zhavoronkov) Believes that being in China is an important factor in frequently receiving large orders from multinational pharmaceutical companies. Because even if drug research and development has introducedAI, what is being tested is not only computing power; it requires a large amount of experimental data and validation through cell experiments, not just algorithmic models.

"The only two places in the world capable of efficient chemical synthesis are India and China, and the quality in China is higher," said Alex Zavorokov. "China has excellent infrastructure and a vast pool of talent that can help quickly scale up verification. Additionally, the government provides strong support for this kind of work."

Setting aside the factor of self-promotion by companies, multinational pharmaceutical enterprises in ChinaAIThe confidence in pharmaceuticals is gradually built.

The collaboration between Eli Lilly and XtalPi began2019Year, to 2023 was signed in2.5Billion US dollarsAI+Collaboration on Robot Small Molecule Drug Discovery;2025In that year, the two parties reached a total amount in the field of large molecule drug research and development.3.45Multi-target cooperation worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Insilico Medicine is similar.2022Year,Lilly Starts Subscribing to Insilico Medicine's Software Services; Three Years Later2025Year,The two parties signed a1YimeiYuanProject cooperation;Until2026Year3Month, Achieved27.5YimeiYuanTheBigCooperation.

Insilico Medicine expects that in2026There will be more cooperative deals landing in the first and second halves of the year. Because, there have already been someBDThe cooperation has progressed to the stage of drafting the cooperation framework.

"We are working hard to put thesetermsheet(Term Sheet) into a contract." Ren Feng revealed that around the time the deal with Eli Lilly was announced, the company received more inquiries and invitations for cooperation from large overseas pharmaceutical companies. He believes that "more deals than we imagined will emerge, especially with overseas and multinational pharmaceutical companies."

In2025At the end of the year, Insilico Medicine's initial public offering (IPO) stage, Eli Lilly once subscribed as its cornerstone investor, which was also its first participation in the Hong Kong stock market's biotech sector as a company.IPO, rather than Lilly Asia Fund. Therefore, after triggering the antitrust review, rumors once spread that it would be acquired by Eli Lilly.

Alex Zavorokov explicitly denied the rumors, "So far, Insilico is still willing to maintain its independence." HeAdded that,"If we must talk about acquisitions, it might be a technology company. For instance, the possibility of Microsoft or NVIDIA acquiring us is greater than the possibility of a pharmaceutical company acquiring us."

Since it is not planning to be acquired for the time being, what Insilico Medicine needs to consider now is how to achieve profitability.

“In the short term, our main source of income is stillBDIncome, down payment, milestone payment, sales sharing, etc., this is at least in the future3Year-5Within a year, or2Year-5"Within the year, the most important business model."Ren Feng told "Caijing".

InAIIn the pharmaceutical field, there has always been a competition of models. That is to say,AIWhether it is used as an auxiliary tool for drug research and development, or will it ultimately be used to truly create a new drug?

The former is considered to beAI+CXO(Pharmaceutical Outsourcing), which makes money by undertaking outsourcing orders from pharmaceutical companies, requires "low profit margins with high sales volumes" to some extent; the latter, however,AI+Biotech, and ultimately enjoy the greater profit potential brought by the drug's market launch.

The Only Two Listed Companies in ChinaAIIn pharmaceutical companies, XtalPi mainly focuses onCXORoute, Insilico has always been expressing its desire to develop drugs independently.

This time, Ren Feng reiterated Insilico Medicine once again.AI+Biotech's positioning. Ren Feng frankly admitted,"We can never beAI CRO(Contract Research Organization). We hope to serve customers, or use the money from selling projects to support our projects. We do not rule out the possibility in the future.5Year,10Years later, we can put our ownDiversification"The pipeline will continue to expand."

Currently, in Insilico Medicine's pipeline, there are nearly30A number of drugs under research and development, among which three products independently developed by the company have advanced to the clinical trial stage. The most advanced is a product under development for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. According to the company's management plan, this product will be...2026Entered phase III clinical trials in year.

Perhaps, the first one byAIThe drug under development will be born in China.