Eli Lilly have revealed its plans to launch the Lilly Institute for Genetic Medicine alongside an investment of around $700m.
The investment – part of the company’s plan to advance its RNA-based treatments – will go towards establishing a state-of-the-art facility at its new site in Boston. The investment also serves to build on the acquisition and accelerated expansion of Prevail Therapeutics, a gene therapy specialist, made in 2020.
The new site will have a shared space to provide support for biotech start-ups in the local area and is modelled after Lilly Gateway Labs in San Francisco. The space will include appointed and configurable office and lab space, with access to Lilly scientists and will offer opportunities for collaboration. The companies are anticipated to created around 150 new jobs once the space is filled, with occupancy planned for 2024.
Researchers in both New York and Boston will collaborate on RNA and DNA-based technologies to further develop promising therapies, which have the potential to treat or prevent diseases that have not been effectively treated or managed with traditional medicines.
Andrew Adams, vice president of genetic medicine at Lilly and co-director of the Institute, said: “Establishing the Lilly Institute for Genetic Medicine will allow us to pair cutting-edge technologies with our deep biological expertise in several areas including neuroscience and diabetes.”
He added: “Lilly will focus on medicines acting at the nucleic acid level to advance an entirely new class that target the root cause of diseases, an approach that is fundamentally different than medicines available today.”
At the Institute, the company plans to accelerate its development of genetic medicines, which already contribute to more than 20% of Lilly’s immunology, diabetes and central nervous system research portfolio.
Projections made by the company cover a five-year time frame, as it expects the Boston site to grow from 120 to more than 250 chemists, data scientists and research biologists in genetic medicine. The New York site is expected to expand to include up to 200 scientists, all employed by Eli Lilly.
“The Institute will enhance our efforts on neurodegenerative diseases and integrate Lilly’s genetic medicine research and platforms with the goal of advancing promising and potentially life-altering new medicines from the lab to clinical studies and ultimately to patients,” said Franz Hefti, CEO of Prevail Therapeutics at Lilly and co-director of the Institute.
“We look forward to working with hundreds of scientists and researchers who share a common goal – to create and develop innovative genetic medicines that make life better for people around the world,” he added.