U.S. pharmaceutical corporations Eli Lilly and Company said on the 28th (local time) that it signed a technology licensing agreement with German biotech corporations Seamless Therapeutics (Seamless Therapeutics, hereafter Seamless) to develop a therapy for hereditary hearing loss. The deal is worth up to $1.12 billion (about 1.59 trillion won), including payments tied to development and commercial milestones.
Under the deal, Lilly secured the right to develop therapies using Seamless' programmable recombinase gene-editing technology. The goal is to develop a therapy that precisely corrects specific gene mutations associated with hearing loss using this technology.
Founded in 2023, Seamless has recombinase technology that, unlike the existing CRISPR gene scissors technology, can accurately replace or modify specific genes without cutting DNA. It is drawing attention as next-generation gene therapy technology for its potential to reduce the risk of genome damage while improving therapeutic precision.
Through the agreement, Lilly will pay Seamless an upfront payment and research and development expenses, and will make additional milestone payments by stage according to clinical development and commercialization. Seamless will provide the technology and conduct early research, while Lilly will handle clinical development and global commercialization.
Beyond its obesity and diabetes treatments zepbound and Mounjaro, Lilly is expanding its gene therapy pipeline. Last year, it acquired Verve Therapeutics for $1.3 billion to pursue gene-editing therapies for cardiovascular disease.
More than 100 genes have been identified so far as causes of hereditary hearing loss. Because the types of mutations and mechanisms of onset differ by gene, the biggest challenge in developing hearing-loss therapies is that it is difficult to address the condition with a single gene or a single therapeutic technology.
Taking these characteristics into account, Lilly is pursuing a multi-platform strategy to secure a wide range of different therapeutic technologies, including RNA-based correction, DNA editing, and gene supplementation.
In 2022, it acquired Akouos for $487 million to secure a candidate for treating hearing loss. The candidate succeeded in restoring hearing in children in early clinical trials. In May last year, domestic RNA-based gene therapy developer Rznomics signed a technology transfer agreement worth up to 1.9 trillion won with Eli Lilly and Company. For the development of an RNA-editing therapy for hereditary hearing loss, Rznomics is conducting the initial research and development, and Lilly is responsible for subsequent development and commercialization.
A Rznomics official said, "Lilly's additional licensing is not a decision to replace the existing partnership, but a strategic choice to expand the patient population and treatment scope."