Eli Lilly Inks Pact With Juvena Therapeutics To Develop Muscle-Boosting Drugs

Juvena Therapeutics, Inc. on Wednesday entered a global licensing and multi-target research collaboration with Eli Lilly And Co LLY.

The two companies aim to develop and commercialize drug candidates that improve muscle health and body composition.

Juvena will leverage JuvNET, an AI-enabled screening platform for mapping the therapeutic potential of stem cell-secreted proteins, developed by Juvena.

The collaboration will identify muscle-targeting drug candidates from Juvena's proprietary library of human stem-cell secreted proteins for improved body composition and muscle health.

Also Read: Eli Lilly’s Obesity Drug Success Spurs Japanese Biotech’s Anti-Muscle-Wasting Combo Therapy

Juvena Therapeutics is showcasing how its AI-driven discovery platform can accelerate the development of regenerative therapies for chronic diseases like obesity and frailty, Hanadie Yousef, co-founder and CEO of Juvena Therapeutics, explained.

The company focuses on pro-metabolic and muscle-regenerative treatments, driven by growing evidence that improving muscle health can enhance metabolism, mobility, and long-term disease resilience. By leveraging its proprietary library of stem-cell-derived proteins, Juvena aims to uncover novel therapeutic targets and bring more effective treatments to patients with greater precision and speed

Under the agreement, Juvena will receive an upfront payment, an equity investment, and potential development and commercialization milestone payments.

Juvena will grant Lilly an exclusive license to identified lead candidates and Lilly will be responsible for further research, development, and commercialization.

Juvena's pipeline of biologic drug candidates spans chronic muscle and obesity-related diseases.

In May, Juvena announced the first clinical trial for its lead program, JUV-161, engineered from a naturally secreted protein that enhances muscle regeneration and health.

They are also developing JUV-112, a lipolysis inducing, non-appetite suppressing, muscle sparing, obesity and metabolic disease preclinical candidate with an energy expenditure mechanism of action that is based on the discovery of a secreted protein that is orthogonal to incretins.

The company has also generated dozens of hits with tissue restorative benefits spanning pulmonary and hepatic fibrosis and osteoarthritis.

Last week, Swedish biopharmaceutical company Camurus AB entered a collaboration and license agreement with Eli Lilly.

Camurus granted Eli Lilly exclusive rights to research, develop, manufacture, and commercialize long-acting incretin products for cardiometabolic health based on Camurus' FluidCrystal technology.

The agreement comprises up to four Lilly proprietary drug compounds, selected from dual GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonists, triple GIP, glucagon, and GLP-1 receptor agonists, and an option to include amylin receptor agonists.

Price Action: Eli Lilly stock is up 0.75% at $813.28 at the last check on Wednesday.

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