Lilly signs a $1.3 billion AI drug-discovery deal with Superluminal

Eli Lilly said on Aug. 14, 2025, that it had signed a collaboration with Superluminal Medicines, a Boston-based startup, worth up to $1.3 billion to discover and develop small-molecule drugs for obesity and other cardiometabolic diseases using artificial intelligence.^[1][2] The deal targets G protein-coupled receptors, or GPCRs, a large family of proteins involved in appetite, metabolism and cardiovascular function that also includes the receptor targeted by GLP-1 drugs.^[1][3]

Under the agreement, Superluminal will use its AI and structural biology platform to find and refine compounds against GPCR targets that have not been publicly disclosed.^[2] Lilly will get exclusive rights to develop and sell any resulting drugs once Superluminal hands over development candidates that meet agreed-upon criteria.^[2] In exchange, Superluminal is eligible for upfront and near-term payments, an equity investment from Lilly, development and sales milestones, and tiered royalties on any future sales.^[2]

The deal is not Superluminal's only obesity work. The company is separately developing its own drug, aimed at a receptor called MC4R, to treat rare genetic forms of obesity and hypothalamic obesity. That program is not part of the Lilly agreement and is expected to enter human testing by the fourth quarter of 2026.^[1][2] Superluminal is backed by investors including RA Capital Management, Insight Partners, and NVentures, the venture arm of chipmaker Nvidia.^[2]

The agreement follows a similar move by Lilly's chief rival. In May 2025, Novo Nordisk struck a $2.2 billion deal with biotech Septerna to pursue small-molecule drugs against select GPCR targets.^[1] Lilly has also been building out its pipeline beyond injectable GLP-1 drugs after its oral GLP-1 candidate, orforglipron, reported trial results showing a 12.4% cut in body weight, a result that lagged Novo's injectable Wegovy and fell short of what investors had expected.^[1] In November 2024, Lilly also partnered with the Hong Kong-listed biotech Laekna on an experimental obesity drug meant to help preserve muscle while cutting fat.^[1]

Why it matters for patients

This deal does not put a new drug in front of patients any time soon. It funds early research to find drug candidates, not a medicine that has entered human testing under the Lilly partnership.^[2] The appeal to Lilly and Novo of small molecules aimed at GPCRs is that, unlike current GLP-1 injections, they could potentially be made as pills using cheaper manufacturing methods, and might carry different side-effect profiles.^[1][3] But none of the sources describe any specific candidate from this collaboration entering clinical trials, so it is not yet known which conditions might eventually be treated, how effective any resulting drug might be, or when it might reach pharmacies.

For people currently using or considering GLP-1 medicines like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound, or the oral drug Foundayo, this deal is a signal about where drugmakers are investing research money, not a change to what is available now.

What happens next

Superluminal's own MC4R candidate, developed outside the Lilly deal, is expected to begin human trials by the fourth quarter of 2026.^[1][2] No public timeline has been given for when any GPCR compound discovered under the Lilly collaboration itself might reach clinical testing.