Eli Lilly has entered into a strategic partnership with Repertoire Immune Medicines to develop new T cell-targeting therapies for autoimmune diseases. The agreement includes an upfront payment of $85 million to Repertoire, with the potential for up to $1.84 billion in development and commercial milestone payments.
Through this collaboration, Lilly will gain access to Repertoire’s DECODE platform, which identifies the interactions between T cells and their target antigens. According to the companies, this technology could lead to therapies that “restore immune homeostasis,” potentially allowing patients to achieve “durable remission of their disease without the generalized immune suppression” that is common with other treatments.
Repertoire will conduct research activities until a drug candidate is nominated. Afterward, Lilly will assume responsibility for clinical development, manufacturing, regulatory filings, and commercialization. If any products reach the market as a result of this alliance, Repertoire will receive tiered royalties on net sales.
This deal follows several other major moves by Lilly in early 2026. Earlier in January, Lilly announced a multi-year collaboration with Nimbus Therapeutics focused on developing an oral drug for obesity, with a deal value reaching up to $1.3 billion (https://www.biospace.com/article/lilly-nimbus-announce-obesity-collaboration-worth-up-to-1-3b/). Shortly after that announcement, Lilly acquired Ventyx Biosciences for $1.2 billion to expand its portfolio of oral medicines for inflammatory diseases (https://www.biospace.com/article/lilly-to-acquire-ventyx-biosciences-for-1-2b/).
Repertoire’s DECODE platform has also attracted interest from other major pharmaceutical companies. In April 2024, Bristol Myers Squibb signed a contract worth up to $1.8 billion with Repertoire to advance vaccines for autoimmune diseases (https://www.biospace.com/article/bristol-myers-squibb-repertoire-sign-autoimmune-vaccine-deal-worth-up-to-1-8b/). A year later, Roche’s Genentech agreed to pay up to $765 million for access to DECODE in autoimmune development (https://www.biospace.com/article/genentech-and-repertoire-strike-autoimmune-deal-worth-up-to-765m/).
“Restore immune homeostasis,” according to Thursday’s release, leading to “durable remission of their disease without the generalized immune suppression” typical of other autoimmune medicines.
