Eli Lilly in $650M pact to boost muscle

Abstract

Eli Lilly is teaming up with Juvena Therapeutics in a deal worth more than $650 million to find molecules that boost muscle health. The collaboration will use Juvena’s JuvNET platform to screen and test proteins secreted by human stem cells as starting points for drugs that restore muscle function. Separately from the deal, Juvena used the platform to develop its lead candidate, JUV-161, a fusion protein of insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) — a protein hormone similar to insulin that is secreted by muscle precursor cells and is involved in myoblast differentiation. JUV-161 restores AKT signaling pathways that regulate muscle growth and metabolism and is in a first-in-human trial for human muscle wasting diseases like myotonic dystrophy type 1.

Muscle-boosting drugs have recently captured biopharma’s interest, driven by the concerns over the side effects of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonists such as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy (semaglutide) and Lilly’s GLP-1/gastric inhibitory peptide drug Zepbound (tirzepatide). When people shed body weight, they lose muscle as well as fat. Studies suggest muscle loss can range between 25 and 39% of weight lost, raising the risk of sarcopenia and frailty, especially in older people. At least ten muscle-sparing drug candidates are being tested alongside GLP-1 agonists for obesity.