Eli Lilly has partnered with biotech company insitro to develop treatments for metabolic diseases using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). This collaboration involves three agreements, leveraging insitro’s AI platform and Lilly’s GalNAc drug delivery technology, which targets liver cells for enhanced therapeutic efficacy. The first two agreements focus on improving treatments for metabolic conditions like metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) through small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) molecules.

In the third agreement, the companies will collaborate to develop an antibody for a novel metabolic disease target. Insitro’s AI/ML platform, which integrates human genetics and functional genomics, will guide the discovery and preclinical development process, with the company managing commercialization efforts after candidate selection. This partnership, supported by Lilly’s Catalyze360-ExploR&D unit, reflects the growing trend of big pharma collaborating with AI-driven biotechs to advance drug discovery.

Insitro’s CEO, Daphne Koller, emphasized the platform’s ability to target metabolic diseases at their origin using multimodal data and advanced computational tools. This partnership builds on insitro’s previous collaborations with Gilead and Bristol Myers Squibb. The company, which launched in 2018, has attracted significant investment and represents the increasing role of AI in transforming pharmaceutical research and development.

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