Lilly pays Nimbus up to $1.3 billion for another oral obesity drug

Eli Lilly has signed a multi-year research and licensing agreement with Boston-based Nimbus Therapeutics to develop an oral treatment for obesity and other metabolic diseases, the companies said on January 6, 2026 ^[1][2]. Lilly will pay $55 million in upfront and near-term milestone payments, and Nimbus could receive up to $1.3 billion in development, commercial and sales milestones, plus tiered royalties on global sales if a drug reaches the market ^[1][2].

Nimbus will use its artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery and structure-based design to identify drug candidates, while Lilly contributes its metabolic-disease expertise, according to Reuters and FierceBiotech ^[1][2]. Neither company named the compound, described how it works, or said when human testing might begin. The agreement covers research; no clinical trial results for this compound have been reported.

"We are pleased to deepen our collaboration with Nimbus, a team that has demonstrated exceptional ability to tackle complex drug discovery challenges," said Ruth Gimeno, Lilly's group vice president for diabetes and metabolic research and development ^[2]. Peter Tummino, Nimbus's president of research and development, said the company was "excited to collaborate with Lilly on another program," combining Nimbus's discovery work with Lilly's metabolic expertise ^[2].

This is Lilly's second metabolic agreement with Nimbus. The earlier deal, signed in 2022, was worth up to $496 million and focused on therapies that activate a specific form of an enzyme called AMP-activated protein kinase, or AMPK ^[2]. Reuters described that pact as a research and licensing agreement covering oral drugs for cardiometabolic diseases ^[1]. Nimbus says its approach brings together computational scientists, medicinal chemists, pharmacologists and translational biologists ^[2].

Oral obesity drugs have become one of the most competitive areas in drug development. Novo Nordisk has just launched a pill version of its weight-loss drug Wegovy, and Lilly has been working to secure FDA approval of its own oral obesity candidate, orforglipron ^[2]. Wegovy and Lilly's Zepbound are both weekly injections ^[1]. Reuters reported that the market for weight-loss drugs is expected to generate more than $150 billion in annual revenue by the early 2030s ^[1]. Orforglipron is a different molecule from semaglutide, the ingredient in Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus; Mounjaro and Zepbound are tirzepatide.

Nimbus has attracted interest beyond Lilly. In 2022 it sold an AI-designed compound to Takeda; Reuters put that deal's value at up to $6 billion ^[1], while FierceBiotech reported a $4 billion acquisition of the Nimbus TYK2 drug now called zasocitinib ^[2]. The sources disagree on the figure. The psoriasis treatment recently cleared two late-stage trials, and Takeda plans to seek regulatory approvals this year ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

Most GLP-1 obesity medicines available in the US are injections taken weekly ^[1]. Drugmakers are racing to develop pills that could offer an alternative to shots; Lilly and Nimbus say the goal of this collaboration is an easy-to-take oral medicine ^[1]. A pill would not change how semaglutide or tirzepatide work, but it could change how they are taken if such products reach the market.

This particular compound is at an early research stage. A licensing agreement does not guarantee a medicine will reach pharmacies; any candidate would still need testing in people and FDA review, and no timeline for either has been disclosed ^[1][2]. People currently taking semaglutide or tirzepatide have no change in their own treatment options because of this deal.

What happens next

• Takeda plans to seek regulatory approvals this year for zasocitinib, the psoriasis drug discovered by Nimbus ^[1].
• Lilly continues to seek FDA approval of orforglipron, its oral obesity candidate ^[2].
• No dates for human trials or a regulatory filing for the new Lilly-Nimbus compound have been disclosed ^[1][2].