AC Immune secures CHF 10 million from Lilly to advance Alzheimer’s therapy

Lausanne-based AC Immune has amended its license and collaboration agreement with Eli Lilly to advance new Tau Morphomer small molecule candidates for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, with IND-enabling studies set to commence in the first half of 2026.

AC Immune SA, the Lausanne-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered at the EPFL Innovation Park, has announced an amendment to its 2018 license and collaboration agreement with Eli Lilly and Company for the research and development of Tau aggregation inhibitor small molecules. The amended agreement expands the collaboration to cover new lead Tau Morphomer candidates and potential back-up compounds, with IND (Investigational New Drug)-enabling studies expected to commence in the first half of 2026.

AC Immune’s Morphomer platform develops small molecules selected for their ability to penetrate the brain when administered orally and to bind specifically to the pathological conformation of the Tau protein, a key driver of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease and related conditions. Strong preclinical data generated by AC Immune suggests that Tau Morphomers can inhibit aggregation and seeding across multiple pathological and disease stages, with growing scientific evidence indicating that targeting intracellular Tau may slow or halt disease pathology entirely.

Under the amendment, AC Immune will receive a CHF 10 million upfront payment and a milestone payment upon Phase 1 dosing, in addition to previously announced milestones. The company remains eligible for further development, regulatory, and commercial milestones exceeding CHF 1.7 billion, plus tiered royalty payments in the low double digits.

The Lilly collaboration is the latest in a series of high-value partnerships secured by AC Immune, whose track record includes a USD 100 million upfront agreement with Takeda for its ACI-24.060 amyloid beta immunotherapy and FDA Fast Track designation for JNJ-2056, its anti-Tau active immunotherapy developed with Janssen. The company’s pipeline now represents over USD 4.5 billion in potential milestone payments across its portfolio of therapeutic and diagnostic programs.