INDIANAPOLIS — Eli Lilly announced an agreement Monday with a China-based biopharmaceutical company to team up to find prevention and treatment of COVID-19.
Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly will receive a license to conduct development, manufacturing and distribution outside of China. Junshi Biosciences will maintain all rights in greater China, according to an Eli Lilly news release.
The lead asset for the neutralizing antibodies is expecting to enter clinical testing in the second quarter.
"As the number of global cases continues to grow, there is an urgent need to study multiple complementary approaches to address this disease," said Daniel Skovronsky, M.D., Ph.D., Lilly's chief scientific officer and president of Lilly Research Laboratories. "The data generated by Junshi Biosciences suggest the lead antibody may have appropriate properties to support testing its therapeutic use in patients as well as exploring its potential for preventing infection in at-risk individuals. We look forward to partnering with Junshi Biosciences to quickly begin testing this potential new therapy in clinical trials."
