# Eli Lilly signs deal worth up to $2.25B with Profluent for AI-designed gene editors

Canonical page: https://technooptimist.io/stories/eli-lilly-signs-deal-worth-up-to-2-25b-with-profluent-for-ai-designed-f96fe9f4
Date: 28 Apr 2026
About: [Profluent](https://technooptimist.io/companies/profluent.md) · [ProGen3 & OpenCRISPR](https://technooptimist.io/ai/progen3.md)
Original source: https://www.statnews.com/2026/04/28/eli-lilly-crispr-gene-editing-deal-profluent-ai/

Lilly partnered with Profluent to design recombinases, enzymes that could insert entire genes into a patient's DNA rather than snip or swap letters. Lilly would pay up to $2.25 billion in milestones if all programs succeed.

## Key facts

- Upfront payment, number of programs and target diseases were not disclosed.
- Lilly has been building genetic medicine through acquisitions and a Boston research centre.
- Inserting whole genes could treat diseases caused by many different mutations in one gene with a single editor.

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