Eli Lilly struck a global research and licensing agreement with TU Dresden spinout Seamless Therapeutics to deploy programmable recombinases for genetic hearing‑loss therapies, with deal economics worth up to $1.12 billion. Seamless will design site‑specific recombinases to insert Lilly’s genes-of-interest into target loci, and Lilly holds exclusive rights to advance candidates through development and commercialization. Seamless said it will evolve recombinases (Cre and large serine families) in bacterial systems and validate activity in mammalian lines before handing molecules to Lilly for preclinical and clinical work. Lilly has been actively building a genetic‑medicines portfolio through purchases and partnerships to expand into rare sensory disorders. Programmable recombinases aim to perform large, precise DNA insertions independent of cellular repair pathways—a technical distinction from nuclease‑based editing. The agreement signals big pharma’s continued appetite for enzyme‑based editing platforms and de‑risking of genetic hearing loss as a target.