Lilly announces new investment in biotechnology

Lilly is to increase its investment in the company's biotechnology capabilities as it seeks to bolster its research efforts in the field of multi-specific therapeutics.

The pharmaceutical company will be dedicating a multimillion-dollar sum to this initiative, which will include the hiring of new US-based biochemists and biologists, as part of a wider innovation strategy.

Multi-specific therapeutics involves the creation of molecules with two or more distinct mechanisms of action, thus improving their overall efficacy and safety.

The firm already has a number of these compounds in development – including a co-agonist peptide being studied as a diabetes treatment – while investments have already been made to acquire relevant businesses, such as Applied Molecular Evolution.

Dr Jan Lundberg, Lilly's executive vice-president of science and technology and president of Lilly Research Laboratories, said: "Our further investment in multi-specific therapeutics underscores Lilly's commitment to the field of biotechnology and its importance to providing improved outcomes for individual patients."

Last month, the company allied with private investors Care Capital and NovaQuest Capital to found a new critical care-focused biotechnology firm, BioCritica.