Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY) announced that it has entered a strategic global research collaboration and licensing agreement with Seamless Therapeutics to develop and commercialize programmable recombinase-based treatments for certain hearing loss indications.
The collaboration will use Seamless’ proprietary recombinase platform, which enables large, precise DNA insertions independent of the cell’s natural DNA repair mechanisms.
Under the agreement, Seamless will design site-specific recombinases targeting mutations in genes associated with hearing loss. Lilly will receive an exclusive license to the recombinases for preclinical and clinical development, as well as commercialization.
As part of the collaboration, Seamless will receive an upfront payment and research funding. The company is also eligible for over $1.12 billion in potential development and commercial milestone payments, in addition to tiered royalties on successfully marketed therapies.
Seamless’ platform leverages advances in programmable recombinase technology to allow precise insertion, exchange, inversion, or excision of DNA fragments in targeted gene sequences.
The company said the collaboration with Lilly will explore the potential of this technology to address genetic hearing loss, a condition with significant unmet medical needs.
“This collaboration is a validation of our gene editing platform and its broad disease-modifying potential,” Seamless CEO Dr Albert Seymour said in a statement. “It’s an exciting opportunity to apply our technology to bring treatments to patients with hearing loss and continue to expand the therapeutic potential for programmable recombinases through our proprietary pipeline.”
Shares of Eli Lilly traded down 2% at about $1,018 on the announcement.