Eli Lilly plans investment to boost its biotech capabilities

US drug major Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) yesterday revealed plans for a multi-million dollar investment to expand its existing biotechnology capabilities, at the BIO International Convention taking place in Washington DC. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.

This investment, the company said, is further fueling R&D of multi-specific therapeutics, in which two or more distinct mechanisms of action are engineered in one molecule with the goal of providing enhanced efficacy with an improved safety profile.

"In many therapeutic areas - for instance, diabetes and oncology - one medicine isn't enough for patients to manage their disease," said Tom Bumol, vice president of biotechnology discovery research at Lilly. "With our extensive biologics experience, we can now engineer new therapies where one medicine essentially provides the benefit of two. This could produce real benefits for patients, health care professionals and payers."