The price Eli Lilly is paying for protein drug developer and portfolio company Protomer could potentially top $1bn dependent on milestone payments.

Pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly is acquiring one of its portfolio companies, US-based metabolic disease therapeutics developer Protomer Technologies, potentially for more than $1bn, it revealed yesterday.

Founded in 2015, Protomer is working on injectable protein therapies that help identify and trigger molecular activators in the body to treat metabolic disorders including diabetes. The purchase price will depend on whether it meets unspecified development and commercialisation milestones.

Lilly owns a 14% stake in the company, having led a funding round at…

Edison Fu

Edison Fu is a reporter and Asia liaison at Global Corporate Venturing.