Eli Lilly, Andreessen Horowitz link up on $500M biotech venture fund

Eli Lilly, Andreessen Horowitz link up on $500M biotech venture fund

Eli Lilly and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) are joining forces to create a unique new fund dubbed the Biotech Ecosystem Venture Fund, backed by $500 million of Lilly’s capital.

The alliance combines a16z’s biotech venture prowess with Lilly’s R&D expertise to “foster a technology ecosystem of ambitious bio + health entrepreneurs and innovators,” according to a Dec. 10 press release.

“The Biotech Ecosystem Venture Fund seeks to enable visionary founders to create enduring solutions in biotech and healthcare,” a16z general partner Vineeta Agarwala, M.D., Ph.D., explained in the release. “Combining our strengths as organizations will empower founders with not only the venture backing needed to advance groundbreaking technologies, but also the resources needed to strategically select the most promising application areas for these platforms.

Along with providing all of the capital for the new fund, Lilly also tossed in access to its lucrative Catalyze360 program.

Unveiled last year, Catalyze360 leverages Lilly Ventures, Lilly Gateway Labs and Lilly ExploR&D to create a multi-armed resource for early-stage drug developers. The company’s Gateway Labs operate as co-working spaces that are meant to serve as collaboration hubs, while ExplorR&D offers a host of services that support investigational drug research and clinical development capabilities. Lilly Ventures focuses on “opportunities of fun, excellent science,” group vice president of business development for Catalyze360, Nisha Nanda, Ph.D. said in an interview last year.

Lilly and a16z have operated in the same circles for years and have invested in some of the same firms, STAT News reports. According to STAT, executives from both companies birthed the idea for the fund at a 2023 meet-up, during which they found common ground in a long-term vision of how AI technology can shape both organizations.

A fund chaired by a Big Pharma and an established venture capital fund is an unusual approach, but one that’s “powered to overcome complex challenges within the healthcare ecosystem,” a16z noted in the release. The fund will focus on new science and technologies, including AI tools.

Lilly, like many other drugmakers, has been an active partner in the bustling AI space and recently inked a $409 million research pact with RNA specialist Genetic Leap, along with other similar collaborations. 

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