Overview
- Lilly and Germany-based Seamless will co-develop treatments targeting genetic hearing loss using Seamless’s programmable recombinase platform.
- Lilly will oversee development from preclinical work through commercialization and will receive an exclusive license to programmed enzymes for selected targets.
- The agreement totals up to $1.12 billion through an upfront payment, R&D funding, and milestone-based payouts, with potential royalties not disclosed.
- Seamless says the funding, including Lilly’s upfront payment, positions it to advance its first experimental program into lab studies by the end of 2026.
- The collaboration extends Lilly’s push into genetic medicines following earlier moves including the acquisitions of Akouos in 2022 and Verve Therapeutics in 2025.