Lilly is paying more than $1 billion for Protomer with the successful achievement of future development and commercial milestones.

Founded in 2015 and based in Pasadena, California, Protomer is engineering next-generation protein therapeutics that can sense molecular activators in the body. Its proprietary chemical biology-based platform enables the development of therapeutic peptides and proteins with tunable activity that can be controlled using small molecules.

Protomer has used this approach to advance a portfolio of therapeutic candidates, including glucose-responsive insulins that can sense sugar levels in the blood and automatically activate as needed throughout the day.

“Lilly has long strived to make life better for people living with diabetes and we have a continued determination to provide real solutions, including innovation in insulin therapy. Glucose-sensing insulin is the next frontier and has the potential to revolutionize the treatment and quality of life of people with diabetes by dramatically improving both therapeutic efficacy and safety of insulin therapy,” said Lilly’s vice president, diabetes research and clinical investigation, Ruth Gimeno, who added that Protomer’s platform shows “significant promise.”

Lilly already has a strong portfolio of diabetes treatments, including injectable drug Trulicity, oral medication Jardiance and injectable biosimilar insulin Basalgar.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist