Lilly signs back-to-back deals in liver disease and cancer

Eli Lilly signed two separate research and licensing deals on Monday, Feb. 11, 2025. One partners the company with South Korea's OliX Pharmaceuticals on a gene-silencing drug for liver and metabolic disease. The other partners Lilly with Australia's AdvanCell on radioactive cancer treatments.^[1]

Neither deal disclosed full financial terms. OliX said only that it would get an initial payment from Lilly to help finish a Phase I trial in Australia. The drug involved, OLX75016, is a small interfering RNA therapy that works by blocking a liver enzyme called MARC1, which is involved in how fat builds up in cells. By lowering MARC1 activity, the drug is meant to reduce fat buildup in the liver, a hallmark of a disease called metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH. OliX started the Phase I trial of this drug in February 2024.^[1]

The second deal, with AdvanCell, has no disclosed financial terms either. It focuses on a type of cancer treatment called targeted alpha radiopharmaceuticals, using a radioactive element called lead-212. The companies did not say which cancers they will target first.^[1]

The MASH deal fits into a bigger picture. Lilly's obesity and diabetes drug Zepbound (tirzepatide) is already being tested for MASH. In a Phase II trial reported in June 2024, more than half of patients on a 5-milligram dose of Zepbound had their MASH go away without their liver fibrosis getting worse after 52 weeks. Among patients on a 15-milligram dose, that number rose to nearly 75%. Lilly has said it is talking with regulators about next steps, but the company's full-year 2024 business review did not list a MASH filing as one of its expected events for 2025.^[1]

Lilly's main rival in obesity treatment, Novo Nordisk, is chasing the same disease with its own drug, Wegovy (semaglutide). Novo reported in November 2024 that Wegovy cleared MASH without worsening fibrosis in 32.8% of patients after 72 weeks, a lower rate than Lilly's Zepbound data. Novo has said it plans to file for a MASH approval for Wegovy in the first half of 2025.^[1]

Why it matters for patients

MASH is a liver disease often linked to obesity and metabolic problems, and it currently has few treatment options. If either Zepbound or Wegovy is eventually approved for this use, patients who already have obesity and liver damage could gain access to a drug that treats both conditions with one prescription. That would be a meaningful change for people managing several related health problems at once.

The new deals are not aimed directly at patients today. OLX75016 is still in early human testing, and Lilly's collaboration with AdvanCell is focused on cancer treatments still in development. Nothing here changes what is available at the pharmacy right now. But the deals show that Lilly is using revenue from its obesity and diabetes drugs to fund research in other diseases connected to the same patient population, particularly liver disease, which is closely tied to excess body weight.^[1]

For now, patients taking or considering Zepbound or Wegovy for weight loss should know that neither drug is currently approved for MASH in the United States. Any expanded use would require separate regulatory review and approval.^[1]

What happens next

Novo Nordisk has said it expects to file for a MASH approval for Wegovy sometime in the first half of 2025. Lilly has not listed a similar filing for Zepbound among its stated goals for the year, even though it has been in discussions with regulators. The Phase I trial of OliX's OLX75016 is ongoing in Australia, with no disclosed date for results.^[1]