Emeryville, California, August 17, 2026
OmniAb, Inc. has announced a new global collaboration and license agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) to advance an undisclosed ion channel discovery program, combining OmniAb’s antibody discovery technology with Lilly’s pharmaceutical development capabilities. The strategic collaboration is designed to leverage OmniAb’s expertise in ion channel discovery and screening to identify potential therapeutic candidates addressing significant unmet medical needs. Under the agreement, OmniAb will receive an upfront payment and is eligible to receive up to $370 million in research, development, and commercial milestone payments, in addition to tiered royalties on global net sales of products that may result from the collaboration. The therapeutic target and specific modality remain undisclosed.
OmniAb Brings Advanced Ion Channel Discovery Technology
The collaboration builds on OmniAb’s specialized platform for discovery research and therapeutic development, which is designed to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies identify next-generation medicines. Ion channels are important biological targets involved in numerous physiological processes and have been investigated across a range of therapeutic areas. However, discovering and developing molecules capable of selectively targeting ion channels can present significant scientific challenges. OmniAb brings established expertise in ion channel discovery and screening, supported by its broader antibody discovery platform and technologies designed to generate and evaluate diverse target-binding proteins. Through the collaboration, the companies aim to apply these capabilities to a new discovery program while combining OmniAb’s research expertise with Lilly’s experience in advancing innovative medicines.
Collaboration Includes Potential $370 Million Milestones
Under the terms of the agreement, OmniAb is eligible for up to $370 million in research, development, and commercial milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties based on global net sales. The financial structure reflects the potential value of successfully advancing the program through research and development and ultimately toward commercialization. The companies have not disclosed the specific therapeutic target or modality, leaving the precise disease area and potential treatment application undisclosed at this stage. The agreement nevertheless represents an important commercial validation of OmniAb’s discovery capabilities and its ability to support pharmaceutical partners pursuing challenging therapeutic targets. For Lilly, the collaboration provides access to OmniAb’s specialized ion channel discovery and screening expertise as the company continues to expand its pipeline of innovative medicines.
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Expanding Next-Generation Therapeutic Discovery
OmniAb’s technology platform combines engineered transgenic animal systems, antibody repertoire generation, computational antigen design, immunization approaches, high-throughput single B-cell screening, and next-generation sequencing analysis to support the discovery of fully human antibodies and other target-binding proteins. The company provides pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners with both integrated discovery capabilities and customizable technology offerings. Its business model generally includes upfront or access fees, research services, development and commercial milestones, and royalties on product sales. The new Lilly collaboration demonstrates how specialized discovery platforms can support pharmaceutical companies in exploring complex biological targets and accelerating early-stage therapeutic research. The agreement also strengthens OmniAb’s position as a technology partner within the global biopharmaceutical discovery ecosystem, particularly in areas where advanced screening and target-validation capabilities may help overcome challenges in identifying promising therapeutic candidates. As the ion channel program progresses, future research and development milestones could provide additional information about the target, modality, therapeutic application, and potential clinical development pathway. For cGxP.wire readers, the collaboration is significant because it highlights the growing role of advanced antibody discovery technologies, strategic pharmaceutical partnerships, and platform-based drug discovery in the development of next-generation therapeutics.
Source: OmniAb, Eli Lilly press relese
