XTAL AI Subsidiary Ailux Partners with Eli Lilly in $345M Deal to Advance AI-Driven Bispecific Antibody Discovery

Recently, XtalPi has reached an important cooperation.

Its wholly-owned subsidiaryAilux With the world's top pharmaceutical companiesEli Lilly(Eli Lilly and Company) has reached a multi-target strategic cooperation and platform licensing agreement.

The total value of this agreement can reach up to$345 million(Approximately RMB 2.46 billion), including tens of millions of dollars in upfront payments and near-term milestone payments.

Lilly to Leverage Ailux's Proprietary Platform to Accelerate Discovery and Development of Bispecific Antibodies (BsAbs) Across Multiple Therapeutic Areas, While Utilizing Its AI Antibody R&D Platform to Expedite Internal Pipeline Research.

This marks the second collaboration between XtalPi and Eli Lilly, following their $250 million AI small molecule drug partnership in 2023.XtalPi has become one of the very few AI drug discovery companies in the world to establish high-value collaborations with leading international pharmaceutical companies in both AI large-molecule biologics and AI small-molecule drugs, further validating its commercial value.

According to the agreement, Lilly can nominate multiple sets of targets, and Ailux will be responsible for designing and optimizing bispecific antibody candidate drugs. Ailux is eligible to receiveTens of Millions of Dollars in Upfront and Near-Term Milestone Payments, as well as subsequent R&D, registration, and commercialization milestone payments. In addition, Eli Lilly also has the right to obtain Ailux's artificialIntelligentUsage rights of the dual-antibody design platform.

This AI large-molecule R&D collaboration with Eli Lilly in the bispecific antibody field marks another key milestone for XtalPi. It demonstrates that its intelligent drug discovery platform has gained favor from major pharmaceutical companies in AI-driven antibody drug development, especially in the AI research and development capabilities for novel drug modalities like bispecific antibodies, which have earned international recognition.

Through the deep integration of artificial intelligence technology and high-throughput experimental technology, XtalPi has focused on the development platforms for various next-generation drug formats such as bispecific antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), and molecular glues, building a diversified, large-scale, and future-oriented competitive advantage.

In the future, XtalPi will accelerate the implementation of AI drug discovery collaborations based on its algorithm platform and R&D model, which have been validated by large pharmaceutical companies, continuously creating value for patients, clients, and investors.

Reviewing the Development History of XtalPi,It was precisely after XtalPi entered into a $250 million AI small molecule drug R&D collaboration with Eli Lilly in 2023 that the capabilities of XtalPi's AI small molecule platform were rapidly validated and developed. Subsequently, XtalPi signed several internationally influential collaborations, including a high-value agreement with DoveTree, founded by biopharmaceutical industry legend Gregory Verdine.$6 billionCooperation.

This time, it has once again reached an agreement with Eli Lilly on bispecific antibodies.AI Large Molecule Drug DevelopmentStrategic platform partnerships, we believe, indicate that XtalPi will see more and larger-scale orders and achievements in the AI large-molecule drug field in the future.

Antibodies, as one of the core drug modalities, have surpassed small-molecule drugs in terms of annual growth rate, proportion of blockbuster drugs, and success rates in clinical stages. The global market size for antibody drugs is expected to increase from $288.4 billion in 2025 to $628.5 billion in 2035, with their market share continuing to rise.

This second collaboration with Eli Lilly on AI antibody drug discovery marks XtalPi as one of the rare global platforms with both AI small molecule and AI large molecule R&D capabilities, further solidifying its leading position in the AI pharmaceuticals industry, elevating its platform value and commercialization potential to a whole new dimension.

Ailux is a biologics R&D platform that XtalPi has prioritized since 2021, experiencing rapid development and commercial achievement in recent years.

Ailux, with its hybrid dry-wet R&D model, achieves precise AI-driven antibody drug design and engineering, effectively addressing the high cost and long cycle challenges in drug discovery, and empowering pharmaceutical companies to explore richer targeting mechanisms and differentiated drug development pathways.

In the future, Ailux will also have the capability to advance multiple next-generation antibody drugs designed by AI into later clinical stages, paving the way for more impactful and significant commercial collaborations.

Leveraging XtalPi's integrated advantages in quantum physics, AI, and high-throughput wet-lab capabilities, Ailux has developed an end-to-end AI biologics R&D platform capable of designing antibody drugs with high-value potential for complex disease mechanisms.

Supported by a proprietary multimodal biopharmaceutical database, this platform provides physics-based structural modeling, generative design, and developability analysis. It is capable of designing antibody molecules that combine innovative functionality, superior efficacy, and ideal drug-like properties, enabling the rapid screening of highly developable and market-competitive drug candidates. The platform has served several top international pharmaceutical companies and has been successfully validated in multiple R&D projects.

"Lilly is our important long-term partner,"XtalPi CEO Ma Jian"We are delighted to extend this deeply trusted partnership into the field of large molecule drug research and development, which represents Eli Lilly's recognition of XtalPi's AI platform's ability to create transformative therapies."

“Bispecific antibodies are one of the most promising directions in today's therapeutic field.” Li Yi, CEO of Ailux and Senior Vice President of XtalPiRepresents,“Ailux’s AI solutions can rapidly transform monospecific antibodies into bispecific ones with both superior efficacy and developability. We look forward to collaborating with Eli Lilly, a global leader in biopharmaceuticals, to advance the next generation of molecules into clinical stages.。”

—END—

Recommended Reading