Eli Lilly first linked up with Gate Bioscience in July 2025 to leverage the biotech’s “Molecular Gate” engine to treat diseases with high unmet need. Monday’s expansion will add one undisclosed target to the existing agreement, with an option for a second.
Gate Bioscience may be getting a sense of déjà vu. After striking a deal with Eli Lilly worth up to $856 million in July 2025, the California biotech is getting another infusion of interest from the Indianapolis-based pharma, which is putting some $870 million more on the line to continue collaborating on a new small-molecule drug class.
Both deals leverage Gate’s “Molecular Gate” discovery engine to eliminate specific difficult-to-drug extracellular proteins in diseases with high unmet need. The biotech calls the resulting drug candidates “molecular gates.”
The expanded partnership, announced Monday, adds one target to the companies’ current efforts, with an opportunity to add a second, Gate said in a press release. The partners have not previously disclosed the number of targets they are exploring together.
Under terms of the new multi-year agreement, Gate will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and an additional payment upon selection of a second target. The biotech could also receive payments after completion of certain preclinical, clinical and commercial milestones, and tiered royalties on global net sales of any approved products, according to the announcement. The deal’s total value could exceed $870 million.
For its investment, Lilly nets an exclusive worldwide license to research, develop and commercialize eventual products stemming from the alliance. Gate will lead the discovery work while the Big Pharma will be responsible for efforts from later-stage preclinical development to commercialization.
“Our existing collaboration with Lilly has shown that our discovery engine can systematically deliver selective molecular gates against difficult-to-drug proteins,” Gate CEO Jordi Mata-Fink said in a prepared statement on Monday, adding that “Lilly’s expertise has accelerated our progress.”
As with the previous deal, the partners did not disclose any indications of interest. However, Gate noted in its press release that among molecular gates’ approximately 4,000 targets are many “high-value” targets in immunology, neuroscience and cardiometabolic health, among other categories, for which no therapies are currently approved or that require injectables to treat.
Founded in 2021, Gate collected $65 million in an oversubscribed series B round in November 2025, which brought the company’s total raised to $135 million at the time. Lilly joined the round, which was led by Forbion, as a new investor. Gate first swung open in 2023 with $60 million in series A funds.
As part of its original tie-up with Lilly, Gate was eligible to receive preclinical R&D support from Lilly ExploR&D, part of the company’s early-stage biotech ecosystem program Lilly Catalyze360, which provides access to the company’s expertise, resources and networks.
