China-based InnoCare has struck its largest business development transaction to date, a discovery and licence partnership with Eli Lilly under which InnoCare may use its proprietary drug-discovery platform to identify and develop up to five novel-target programmes, receiving up to USD 100 million in upfront and near-term payments, up to USD 3.25 billion in development and commercial milestones, and single-digit percentage tiered royalties on annual net sales.

The deal dwarfs InnoCare's prior highest-value out-licensing transaction, the USD 2.095 billion Zenas BioPharma agreement, and lifts the company's cumulative BD count to eight while signalling that global pharma is willing to pay heavily for Chinese-origin target discovery and early pipeline creativity rather than only late-stage clinical assets.

For Lilly, the arrangement buys optionality across multiple undislcosed modalities and indications without carrying all discovery risk, while InnoCare retains discovery economics, milestone upside and royalty streams that fund its internally advanced assets.