BigHat Biosciences Announces Strategic Collaboration with Eli Lilly to Advance AI/ML-Driven Antibody Therapeutics

On April 17, in San Mateo, California, BigHat Biosciences, a biotechnology company with a machine learning (ML)-guided antibody discovery and development platform, announced a strategic collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company. In this collaboration, BigHat will deploy its Milliner platform, an advanced set of machine learning technologies combined with a high-speed wet lab based on synthetic biology, to design and engineer therapeutic antibodies with superior functionality.BigHat Biosciences has reached numerous R&D collaborations with pharmaceutical companies such as Merck, AbbVie, Amgen, and Johnson & Johnson.

BigHat and Eli Lilly to Collaborate on Designing and Discovering Next-Generation Antibodies for Up to Two Antibody Therapy Programs. The partnership aims to design, engineer, and develop antibodies with enhanced functionalities and improved biophysical properties to create treatments that benefit patients with chronic diseases.

Peyton Greenside, CEO and Co-founder of BigHat Biosciences, Inc., stated:"Collaborating with Eli Lilly and Company is an exciting opportunity to fully leverage the potential of AI-driven bio-design. By combining Eli Lilly's deep expertise in drug discovery and development with BigHat Biosciences' machine learning-powered Milliner platform, we can accelerate the development of truly differentiated next-generation protein therapies."

This collaboration builds on BigHat's strategy of engaging in value-creating strategic partnerships, balanced with an exciting internal proprietary pipeline of therapies in the fields of oncology and immunology. BigHat’s machine learning platform is designed to address molecular engineering challenges and unlock the development of new therapies to improve patient outcomes. In addition to supporting the advancement of its partners’ therapeutic programs, BigHat is building and progressing a pipeline of next-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and functionally differentiated T-cell engagers (TCEs), spanning indications in oncology and immunology. BigHat plans to advance its next-generation ADC for gastrointestinal cancers into the clinic by 2026, supported by Lilly Catalyze360™, while retaining full global rights and control over the program.

In addition to the antibody discovery collaboration and support for BigHat’s gastrointestinal cancer ADC, Eli Lilly will also make an equity investment in BigHat Biosciences. This collaboration is part of the Lilly Catalyze360™ model, a comprehensive approach that empowers early-stage biotech startups across all therapeutic areas by providing funding as well as world-class laboratory space and/or drug development expertise and resources through its three pillars: Lilly Ventures, Lilly Gateway Labs®, and Lilly ExploR&D.