Lilly and MiNA Therapeutics to Collaborate on Novel Drug Development

Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) and MiNA Therapeutics, a UK-based RNA activation therapeutics company, announced on May 11, 2021 that they are launching a global research collaboration to develop novel drug candidates using MiNA's proprietary small activating RNA (saRNA) technology platform.

Under the terms of the partnership, MiNA will receive a $25-million upfront payment and will be eligible to receive development and commercialization milestones of up to $245 million per target as well as tiered royalties from the low-single to low-double digits on product sales resulting from the collaboration, Lilly said in a company press release. Through the collaboration, MiNA will use its saRNA platform to research up to five targets selected by Lilly to address diseases across its key therapeutic focus areas, while Lilly will handle the preclinical and clinical development of the candidates and will maintain exclusive commercialization rights for any products resulting from the collaboration.

"Small activating RNAs are a promising new technology, which will expand the breadth of Lilly's RNA therapeutics platform and the targets we can pursue," said Andrew C. Adams, PhD, vice-president for new therapeutic modalities at Lilly, in the press release. "We are excited about the potential of combining MiNA's leading saRNA platform and our expertise in new modalities to accelerate development of RNA-based medicines in areas of high unmet medical need."

"This collaboration with Lilly is an important validation of our saRNA platform," added Robert Habib, CEO of MiNA Therapeutics, in the press release. "Lilly's expertise in the field of RNA therapeutics and clinical development will greatly enhance our efforts to realize the technology's full potential. Together, we aim to unlock new targets in multiple therapeutic areas and to ultimately move them towards clinical development and commercialization."

Source: Eli Lilly and Company