Lilly Launches Open Innovation Drug Discovery Platform to Help Find Potential New Medicines Where Medical Need is Great

INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY)
today announced the launch of a new open innovation platform designed to help
build the company’s pipeline of tomorrow and, from a philanthropic perspective,
identify molecules that may have application for treating multi-drug resistant
tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The new platform, titled Open Innovation Drug Discovery,
is supported by an innovative new website available at openinnovation.Lilly.com.
It builds on the success of Lilly’s Phenotypic Drug Discovery Initiative (PD2)
that was launched in 2009 to facilitate research on molecules around the world
that have the potential to ultimately be developed into medicines.

The new platform consists of three components:

— TD2, or target drug discovery, a new component that screens submitted
molecules for their potential to interact with known disease targets.
— PD2, which continues to screen submitted molecules in complex cellular
assays with the goal of identifying potential new medicines acting by
novel mechanisms or pathways.
— An additional new component that screens molecules for their potential
in the fight against MDR-TB–a form of tuberculosis (TB) that is
resistant to at least two first-line TB medicines–through the Lilly TB
Drug Discovery Initiative. Lilly has long been involved in global
efforts to stop the spread of TB and MDR-TB, which disproportionately
affects underserved populations. Given the recent emergence of MDR-TB,
there is an urgent need to find breakthrough treatments.(i)

“I think of Open Innovation Drug Discovery as a platform consisting of multiple
superhighways all pointed towards the final destination of discovering novel
medicines that we believe have the potential to improve patients’ lives,” said
Alan D. Palkowitz, Ph.D., vice president of discovery chemistry research and
technologies, Lilly. “These superhighways connect scientists from all over the
world with Lilly, for the common goal of finding new treatments for diseases
where patients are in need and looking for answers, such as cancer, diabetes and
MDR-TB.”

Many scientists have molecules they would like to explore as potential
medicines, but for a range of reasons, including the lack of resources or
barriers to engaging in the drug discovery and development process, they are not
able to advance their work. The Open Innovation Drug Discovery platform is
designed to minimize these obstacles and benefit continued research that
supplements the innovation of Lilly’s scientists.

In addition to focusing on research areas in which Lilly has an internal
strategic focus and deep expertise–cancer, endocrine, cardiovascular and
neuroscience–the open innovation platform now will serve as a bridge between
external scientists and the not-for-profit Lilly TB Drug Discovery Initiative,
whose mission is to accelerate early-stage drug discovery and help identify the
TB medicines of the future. Leading members of the Lilly TB Drug Discovery
Initiative include the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) and the
National Institutes of Health (NIH).

How the Open Innovation Drug Discovery Platform Works

The Open Innovation Drug Discovery platform utilizes a secure website that
offers Lilly’s proprietary computational and informatics tools to aid scientists
in the design and selection of molecules. Once a scientist submits a molecule to
the website and it meets certain specified requirements, Lilly tests it – free
of charge – in a series of biological assay panels that evaluate it for its
uniqueness and potential to be further optimized into a drug candidate.
Comprehensive data reports are then provided to the submitting scientist.

In the case of the cancer, endocrine, cardiovascular and neuroscience
screenings, in return for providing the data Lilly retains first rights to
negotiate a collaboration or licensing agreement with the submitter. If no such
agreement is reached, the external scientist retains “no-strings-attached”
ownership of the data and can choose to use it in publications, grant proposals
or to further refine his or her hypotheses about the molecule’s potential as a
medicine. In the case of the MDR-TB screening, promising data could result in a
collaboration between the submitting organization and the Lilly TB Drug
Discovery Initiative.

“Our mission at Lilly is to help people live longer, healthier lives,” said Jan
Lundberg, Ph.D., executive vice president, science and technology, and
president, Lilly Research Laboratories. “In doing so, we look for where there is
a need and forge ahead within our own labs and through partnerships. In that
spirit, we recognize that there are many untapped sources of ideas and molecules
outside of Lilly that would otherwise go unnoticed without initiatives like this
one that advance science.”

About Lilly

Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing
portfolio of pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its
own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific
organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., Lilly provides answers -
through medicines and information – for some of the world’s most urgent medical
needs. Additional information about Lilly is available at www.lilly.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements about the Open Innovation
Drug Discovery Platform. It reflects Lilly’s current beliefs; however, as with
any such undertaking, there are substantial risks and uncertainties in the
process of drug development and commercialization. There is no guarantee that
this platform will successfully identify potential medicines or that the company
will enter into licensing arrangements for any such compounds. For further
discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, please see Lilly’s latest
Forms 10-Q and 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Lilly undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements.

C-LLY

(i) Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Tuberculosis Fact Sheet, accessed on
September 12, 2011. Available at:

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/topics/Documents/tuberculosis-fact-sheet.pdf

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20031219/LLYLOGO )

SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company