Eli Lilly plans to use BioArctic’s technology to shuttle an undisclosed drug candidate into the brain. The pharma hasn’t specified which neurodegenerative disease it will target.
Eli Lilly has entered into a research partnership with BioArctic to advance a novel drug candidate for an unnamed neurodegenerative disease.
The back-heavy deal, announced early Monday morning, will involve a $30 million upfront payment from Lilly, plus up to $770 million in milestones, to gain access to the Swedish biotech’s BrainTransporter technology. BioArctic will also be entitled to tiered mid-single-digit royalties on future global product sales.
BioArctic will combine an undisclosed candidate from Lilly with its BrainTransporter technology, which exploits the transferrin receptor to shuttle therapeutic molecules, including antibodies, into the brain. Lilly’s neuro portfolio is headlined by its anti-amyloid antibody Kisunla, which the FDA approved for Alzheimer’s disease in July 2024. That was about a year and a half behind Leqembi, the first anti-amyloid antibody to hit the market. BioArctic actually was the original inventor of Leqembi, licensing the drug to Eisai in 2007 while retaining rights to co-commercialize the drug in the Nordic region. Eisai later partnered with Biogen to bring the drug to market.
Perhaps because of its later market entry, Kisunla’s revenues are slightly behind those of its main competitor. In the first quarter, Lilly’s therapy earned $124 million, while Leqembi made $168 million.
While neither Kisunla nor Leqembi use BrainTransporter, Bristol Myers Squibb has bought into the technology, with a potential $1.35 billion biobucks deal in December 2024. Months later, in August 2025, Novartis likewise brought BioArctic on with a $30 million upfront payment—plus up to $772 million in milestones—to target a neurodegenerative disorder.
With Monday’s agreement, Lilly joins that high-profile lineup. It will be completely responsible for its alliance asset with BioArctic, bankrolling the candidate’s global development and commercialization. The pharma is keeping the specific target indication under wraps, disclosing only that it will address neurodegeneration.
The deal continues Lilly’s rapidfire dealmaking spree. To help bolster its position in the neuro space, the giant from Indiana earlier this month inked a similarly back-loaded deal with another Swedish biotech. Paying $10 million upfront, Lilly licensed AlzeCure Pharma’s small-molecule drug ACD60, which modulates the gamma-secretase enzyme, in turn curtailing the production of a disease-causing form of amyloid-beta. If all milestones are met, that pact could be worth more than $1 billion.
The pharma in March also swallowed Centessa Pharmaceuticals in a massive $7.8 billion deal, gaining ownership of the orexin receptor 2 agonist cleminorexton, which is being tested for narcolepsy type 1, narcolepsy type 2 and idiopathic hypersomnia.
Lilly has also been a prolific dealmaker outside of neuro and has earmarked over $25 billion for M&A just in the first half of this year. Some standouts include the company’s $2.3 billion takeover of Ajax Therapeutics and $7 billion buyout of Kelonia Therapeutics, both in the cancer arena.
