Superluminal Medicines Announces Collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company to Advance Small Molecule Therapeutics for Cardiometabolic Diseases and Obesity

Collaboration focused on undisclosed GPCR targets 

Company to receive an upfront and near-term payments, including an equity investment, as well as additional development and commercial milestones, and tiered royalties    

BOSTON, Aug. 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Superluminal Medicines, a drug discovery company integrating AI/ML, protein dynamics, and structural biology to rapidly unlock the most challenging G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), today announced a collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company ("Lilly") to advance small molecule therapeutics targeting undisclosed GPCR targets relevant to cardiometabolic diseases and obesity. The collaboration will leverage Superluminal's cutting-edge, structure-based drug discovery platform, combined with Lilly's small molecule development and commercialization expertise, to rapidly advance potentially life-changing therapeutics.

"Our collaboration with Lilly is a defining moment for Superluminal, and a testament to the power of our platform to deliver high-quality development candidates against historically intractable GPCR targets," said Cony D'Cruz, CEO of Superluminal. "Together, we aim to develop next-generation medicines that address the urgent and growing global burden of cardiometabolic disease. We are very excited to be embarking on this collaboration just as we begin to advance our internal drug candidate targeting rare genetic forms of obesity and hypothalamic obesity, and we are committed to bringing safe, efficacious, novel treatments to patients affected by these challenging conditions."

Under the terms of the agreement with Lilly, Superluminal will apply its proprietary platform to discover and optimize small-molecule therapeutics for undisclosed GPCR targets relevant to cardiometabolic diseases and obesity. Lilly will receive exclusive rights to develop and commercialize compounds arising from the collaboration after Superluminal delivers development candidates that meet predefined criteria. Superluminal is eligible to receive up to $1.3 billion, which includes upfront and near-term payments, an equity investment, development and commercial milestones, as well as tiered royalties on net sales. 

Superluminal's platform integrates deep structural biology, machine learning, and proprietary pharmacokinetic and toxicology prediction tools to accelerate the discovery of candidate-ready small molecules. Initial efforts have focused on GPCRs, a historically challenging target class, where functional selectivity and structural complexity demand next-generation computational solutions.

Superluminal is headquartered in Lilly Gateway Labs, Boston, and is backed by a strong network of investors, including RA Capital Management, Insight Partners, NVentures (NVIDIA's venture capital arm), Catalio Capital Management, Eli Lilly and Company, Gaingels, and Cooley.

About Superluminal Medicines
Superluminal's platform has achieved a deep integration of AI/ML with biology, structural biology, and chemistry expertise to build the foundation for next-gen R&D and accelerate the discovery of candidate-ready compounds. The predict-design-test architecture accurately models protein shapes and designs highly selective compounds to target the precise structural change for therapeutic effect. Its discovery engine is powered by an industry-leading, pharmacokinetic and toxicology in silico prediction capability. The company's proprietary pipeline validates its platform with initial programs focused on high-value GPCR targets, including its wholly owned lead program, a best-in-class, selective, and biased MC4R agonist for the treatment of obesity, which is expected to enter the clinic in 2026.

For more, visit www.superluminalrx.com.

Superluminal Media Contact
Sarah Sutton
Endurance PR
[email protected]
(518) 932-3680

SOURCE Superluminal Medicines