Eli Lilly Expands Antibody Discovery Partnership with Oblique Therapeutics

Eli Lilly and Oblique Therapeutics are extending their partnership to encompass a second high-value target. The business will keep finding antibodies utilising Oblique's AbiProt platform, working in particular with Lilly Catalyze360-ExploR&D, a division that provides clinical development services to affiliated biotechs and pharmaceutical companies. The increased agreement's financial details were not made public, but Oblique said that milestones and royalties would be generated by the cooperation if medicines are developed effectively. Therapeutic antibodies that can be engineered to perform a particular pharmacological activity are found using AbiProt.

Oblique's technology delivers sequencing and structural information for epitope detection and leverages microfluidics and proteases as molecular probes. Within its own portfolio, the pharmaceutical concentrates on pain initiatives. Previously, it employed AbiProt to identify and create two antibodies that target TRPV1 and KRAS, respectively, for pain and cancer. Additionally, Eli Lilly and AbCellera Biologics have extended their collaboration to find therapeutic antibodies for applications pertaining to brain, cardiovascular disease, and immunology. The acquisition of the French biotech business Mablink strengthened the foundation for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).