HAYA Therapeutics secures USD 1 billion deal with Lilly to target obesity through RNA platform

HAYA Therapeutics has announced a landmark collaboration with pharmaceutical giant Lilly, securing up to USD 1 billion in funding. The partnership aims to leverage HAYA's proprietary RNA platform to discover novel regulatory genome targets for obesity and related metabolic conditions, marking a significant step forward in the fight against these global health challenges.

HAYA Therapeutics, a biotechnology company pioneering precision RNA-guided regulatory genome targeting therapeutics for chronic diseases, today announced a multi-year agreement with Eli Lilly and Company to apply HAYA’s advanced RNA-guided regulatory genome platform to support preclinical drug discovery efforts in obesity and related metabolic conditions. The partners will identify multiple regulatory genome-derived RNA-based drug targets to address these chronic conditions.

Under the terms of the collaboration, HAYA will receive an upfront payment, including an equity investment, and is eligible to receive up to an aggregate of USD 1 billion in pre-clinical, clinical and commercial milestone payments and royalties on product sales.

HAYA’s proprietary regulatory genome discovery platform enables the identification of tissue-, disease- and cell-specific long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) targets and the development of RNA targeting therapies, with potentially better efficacy and less toxicity than current treatments, to reprogram disease-driving cell states. This collaboration will utilize HAYA’s full-stack regulatory genome platform to identify, characterize and validate multiple novel lncRNA targets for the potential development of new treatments for obesity and related metabolic disorders.

HAYA was ranked among the TOP 100 Swiss Startups from 2020 to 2023, placing first last year. It won the final stage of Venture Kick in 2018 and participated in Venture Leaders Life Sciences in 2018.


HAYA on stage at the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Awards Night, 2023