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Lilly, Nimbus Strike Multi-Year Deal to Develop AI-Designed Oral Obesity Drugs

The deal pairs Nimbus’s AI discovery platform with Lilly’s metabolic expertise to pursue pill alternatives to injectable weight-loss drugs.

Overview

  • Lilly agreed to pay $55 million in upfront and near-term milestones, with up to $1.3 billion in additional development and commercial milestones plus royalties if any drug is approved.
  • Nimbus will use its artificial intelligence platform to identify oral candidates while Lilly contributes metabolic-disease expertise to advance an easy-to-take obesity medicine.
  • The announcement comes as Novo Nordisk begins U.S. sales of FDA-approved Wegovy tablets, highlighting growing momentum for oral weight-loss options.
  • Nimbus previously sold an AI-designed psoriasis compound to Takeda in a deal worth up to $6 billion, and that drug recently cleared two late-stage trials ahead of planned regulatory filings.
  • The collaboration extends a 2022 Lilly–Nimbus research pact on oral cardiometabolic therapies and reflects wider industry adoption of AI aligned with the FDA’s push to reduce animal testing.