Lilly taps Haya for weight-loss collaboration

The most valuable pharmaceutical company in the world has tapped Swiss biotech Haya Therapeutics to develop weight-loss drugs that target a specific type of RNA. Eli Lilly and Company—whose market capitalization currently hovers around $855 billion because of the commercial success of its weight-loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound—will collaborate with Haya to find new drug targets for chronic metabolic conditions and obesity . Lilly will pay Haya an undisclosed amount up front that includes an equity investment. Overall, the deal is worth up to $1 billion in potential milestone payments and royalties. Founded in 2017, Haya has homed in on long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) as potential targets to treat diseases. These RNA molecules are not translated into proteins but, rather, interact with and regulate biological processes. They help make up what’s sometimes referred to as the regulatory genome. Haya has so far begun developing lncRNA-targeting drug candidates for fibrotic heart