Eli Lilly expanded its metabolic pipeline by partnering again with AI-powered Nimbus Therapeutics on a small-molecule program aimed at treating obesity and related cardiometabolic disorders. Lilly agreed to pay roughly $55 million in upfront and near-term payments, with total deal value contingent on milestones and royalties reaching approximately $1.3 billion. Nimbus will apply its computational chemistry and structure-based design engines to discover oral candidates, building on a prior collaboration that yielded an isoform‑selective AMPK activator. Lilly framed the deal as part of a broader push into oral obesity treatments to complement injectable incretin therapies; Nimbus said the partnership leverages its discovery platform to tackle difficult metabolic targets.