Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY) has introduced Lilly TuneLab, an artificial intelligence and machine learning platform designed to support early-stage biotechnology companies in drug discovery.
The system provides access to models trained on Lilly’s proprietary datasets, which the company estimates represent more than $1 billion in research investment, the company said on Tuesday.
These datasets include information on drug disposition, safety, and preclinical studies, compiled from work with hundreds of thousands of molecules.
Lilly said the platform is intended to help smaller biotech firms accelerate development timelines by providing tools that would otherwise require extensive resources.
Through TuneLab, companies can predict small-molecule properties and assess antibody development potential.
Future updates are expected to add additional models, including those trained on in vivo animal study data.
The technology is hosted by a third party and uses federated learning, a method that allows data sharing and model training while preserving proprietary information.
Selected biotech partners are expected to contribute data that will further refine the models over time.
“Lilly has spent decades building comprehensive datasets for drug discovery. Today, we're sharing the intelligence gained from that investment to help lift the tide of biotechnology research,” said Dr Daniel Skovronsky, Lilly’s chief scientific officer and president of Lilly Research Laboratories and Lilly Immunology.
“Lilly TuneLab was created to be an equalizer so that smaller companies can access some of the same AI capabilities used every day by Lilly scientists.”
Lilly TuneLab is part of the company’s broader Lilly Catalyze360 initiative, which supports biotechnology partners through capital investment, laboratory facilities, and development expertise.
Other components of the program include Lilly Ventures, Lilly Gateway Labs, and Lilly ExploR&D.
“With Lilly TuneLab we're not just sharing resources, we are also compressing decades of learning into instantly accessible intelligence,” said Dr Nisha Nanda, group vice president and head of Lilly Catalyze360.
“Through this platform, we can help our biotech partners unlock novel scientific insights, make smart development decisions earlier, and increase their likelihood of success.”
Shares of Eli Lilly added 1% at $746 in early trade.