US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly inked a $2.75 billion deal with a Hong Kong-listed biotech firm to create new medicines using AI.
Insilico Medicine, which develops drugs in China and went public in December, says it has produced at least 28 medicines using generative AI tools, with nearly half at the clinical trial phase.
The agreement points to China’s growing role in the global pharma sector: Lilly plans to invest $3 billion in the country over the next decade, and a record number of non-Chinese companies licensed treatments made by Chinese firms in 2025.
The industry is increasingly turning to AI to accelerate research. One recent study found AI can deliver “unprecedented speed and accuracy” in early cancer drug discovery.