An Eli Lilly executive has said the company will 鈥渂uild a new way of doing science鈥� as part of its 拢279m ($363m) pledge to boost the UK鈥檚 life science sector.
A memorandum of understanding was announced earlier this week at the International Investment Summit in London, with Lilly pledging to launch the first European Lilly Gateway Labs in the UK as part of the deal.聽
Lilly鈥檚 senior vice-president of information and R&D IT, Ramesh Durvasula, led a keynote discussion at the UK Bioindustry Association (BIA) TechBio 2024 conference in London on 16 October, following the pledge, highlighting how Lilly is using technology like AI to 鈥渢ransform itself to make the next generation of pharmaceutical products鈥�.聽
鈥淲hen we bring Lilly Gateway Labs to the UK, we are going to build a new way of doing science that is going to leverage the current technology stack, and we are going to constantly reinvent ourselves,鈥� said Durvasula.聽聽
Lilly Gateway Labs is Lilly鈥檚 biotech incubator in the US, designed to support early-stage life science start-ups. It provides companies with access to lab space, equipment and opportunities to collaborate with Lilly scientists, offering expertise in drug development, regulatory strategies and commercialisation. Lilly鈥檚 Gateway Lab plans to build on the 300,000 jobs the life sciences sector already supports nationwide.聽
Lilly has cemented its use of tech and AI through several partnerships this year. Earlier this month, the company teamed up with insitro to develop treatments for metabolic diseases, combining insitro鈥檚 AI machine learning platform with Lilly鈥檚 drug delivery technology. The partnership is supported by Lilly鈥檚 external biotech collaboration unit, Catalyze360-ExploR&D.聽
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By GlobalDataDurvasula also touted the Catalyze360 programme, a venture-focused initiative designed to foster innovation in healthcare by supporting early-stage biopharmaceutical companies. 鈥淐atalyze360 is all about external innovation. Lilly Gateway Labs is one of the strategies that we have to enable this external innovation,鈥� he said.
Lilly is a major player in the obesity and metabolic disorder space, highlighted by its blockbuster drug tirzepatide, marketed as Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes obesity in Europe. It is marketed as Zepbound for obesity in the US. Mounjaro pulled in $5.2bn in sales in 2023, as per Lilly鈥檚 financials, with its revenue forecasted to reach $32.4bn by 2030, according to analysis by GlobalData.
GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.
In addition to bringing Lilly Gateway Labs to the UK, the funding will also help to support a five-year clinical trial (SURMOUNT-REAL UK) to evaluate the real-world effectiveness of Mounjaro in weight loss, diabetes prevention and the prevention of obesity-related complications for adults with obesity.聽
Lilly鈥檚 CEO, David Ricks, called the trial and pledge “an important milestone鈥�, adding the company is 鈥渃ommitted to improving health for people living with obesity and its serious consequences鈥�.聽
The study will also collect data on healthcare resource utilisation, health-related quality of life and changes in participants鈥� employment status and sick days from work, the company said.
Mounjaro was recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence () to be prescribed directly by GPs, for patients with a BMI over 35kg/m虏 and one weight-related comorbidity in June 2024.
However, NHS England recently wrote to NICE setting out proposed plans for a phased approach to the rollout of the drug. The road map suggests those with the greatest clinical need will get priority access, according to the NHS national medical director.聽
