U.S. pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly (LLY) has signed an agreement worth up to $1.12 billion with Seamless Therapeutics, a privately held German startup company that specializes in gene editing.
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Eli Lilly said it plans to work with Seamless to develop and commercialize treatments for hearing loss using the biotech firm’s gene-editing platform. The deal gives Eli Lilly access to Seamless’ technology that engineers enzymes to correct gene mutations that lead to hearing loss in people.
These enzymes, called “programmable recombinases,” are designed to make changes to a person’s DNA that help prevent hearing loss. Eli Lilly said it will oversee preclinical testing through to commercialization of the gene-editing platform and hearing loss treatment.
Eli Lilly’s Diverse Pipeline
Eli Lilly’s $1.12 billion investment in Seamless includes an upfront payment, funding for research and development, as well as future payments upon completion of certain milestones, said the two companies in a news release.
While Eli Lilly gets a lot of attention for its Zepbound weight-loss medication, the company has a diverse pipeline of new medicines in development, including related to genetic treatments for several diseases. In 2025, Eli Lilly spent $1.3 billion to buy Verve Therapeutics and acquire its gene-editing therapies that help reduce high cholesterol in people with heart disease.
Is LLY Stock a Buy?
The stock of Eli Lilly has a consensus Strong Buy rating among 20 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on 18 Buy and two Hold recommendations issued in the last three months. The average LLY price target of $1,191.37 implies 12.08% upside from current levels.
