Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly has entered into a new research and licensing agreement with Nimbus Therapeutics. The partnership aims to develop a novel oral weight-loss medication, further strengthening Lilly’s dominance in the rapidly growing metabolic disease market.
Deal Structure and Technological Focus
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Financial Terms: Lilly will provide an upfront payment of $55 million, with an additional $1.3 billion tied to developmental and commercial milestones, plus future royalties on net sales.
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Nimbus’s Contribution: Nimbus will leverage its computational chemistry and structure-based drug design (SBDD) platforms to discover small-molecule candidates for obesity and other metabolic disorders.
Strategic Competitive Landscape This collaboration comes as the race for oral weight-loss therapies intensifies. Following the FDA approval of Novo Nordisk’s oral Wegovy in December 2025, Lilly is working to diversify its portfolio beyond its blockbuster injectable, Zepbound. The two companies have a history of collaboration, having signed a deal in 2022 focused on the AMPK enzyme, a key regulator of energy pathways.
By deepening ties with Nimbus, Lilly signals its ambition to move beyond current GLP-1 mechanisms and explore novel biological pathways using artificial intelligence and advanced computational modeling.