On Wednesday, Verge Genomics announced that Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE:LLY) has opted to pursue the development of therapeutics against two validated drug targets for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) as part of the companies' collaboration, which was initiated in July 2021.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a nervous system disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

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Verge's AI-enabled CONVERGE platform identified and validated the targets, with 83% of prioritized targets validated in disease-relevant models.

Target selection triggered near-term milestone payments from Lilly to Verge. As the programs progress, Verge is eligible for additional downstream economics.

In 2021, Verge and Lilly entered a three-year collaboration to discover and validate novel therapeutic targets for ALS that would become the focus for subsequent drug discovery and development.

Verge received up to $25 million in upfront equity investment and potential near-term milestones, with a total deal value of $694 million plus potential downstream royalties.

Verge also continues to advance VRG50635, its internal lead drug candidate for sporadic and familial ALS.

VRG50635 is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1B Proof-of-Concept (PoC) study in Canada and several European countries. Enrollment is complete and dose escalation, including to the highest dose level, is ongoing.

Price Action: Eli Lilly stock is up 2.75% at about $749 at the last check Wednesday.

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