Under the agreement, Lilly will gain access to Seamless Therapeutics’ proprietary technology, which is used to design specially engineered enzymes capable of correcting certain gene mutations linked to hearing loss, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
These enzymes, known as programmable recombinases, are designed to make large and highly precise changes to DNA at specific locations without relying on the cell’s natural DNA repair pathways.
Lilly will be responsible for overseeing development of the treatments from preclinical testing through to commercialization.
Seamless Therapeutics Chief Executive Officer Albert Seymour said the partnership allows the company to collaborate on its platform while continuing to advance its own internal programs. Speaking to Reuters, Seymour added that Seamless is open to pursuing similar partnerships beyond Lilly.
The startup has raised more than $40 million to date, Seymour said, noting that when combined with Lilly’s upfront payment under the new agreement, the company is well funded to advance its first experimental drug into laboratory studies by the end of the year.
Lilly’s $1.12 billion deal includes an upfront payment, research and development funding, and additional payments tied to the achievement of specific development and commercial milestones.
The agreement is part of Lilly’s broader effort to build a pipeline of genetic medicines across multiple diseases through acquisitions and partnerships, as the company looks beyond its blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes treatments Zepbound and Mounjaro for future growth.
Last year, Lilly paid $1.3 billion to acquire Verve Therapeutics to develop gene-editing therapies aimed at reducing high cholesterol in people with heart disease. The company also bought Akouos in 2022 for $487 million to gain access to a gene-therapy candidate for hearing loss. That therapy demonstrated hearing restoration in children during an early- to mid-stage clinical trial in 2024.
