WilmerHale represented Gate Bioscience (Gate), a biotechnology company developing molecular gates—a new class of small molecule drugs designed to eliminate disease-causing proteins at their source—in its recent collaboration and license agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly). The collaboration aims to discover, develop, and commercialize molecular gate therapeutics, and will leverage Gate’s molecular gate drug discovery engine to identify compounds capable of eliminating specific, difficult-to-drug proteins, offering a novel mechanism of action for treating diseases with high unmet medical need.

Under the terms of the agreement, Gate will receive an upfront payment and equity investment and will be eligible to receive milestone payments upon achievement of certain development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, as well as tiered royalties on global net sales, with a total deal value up to $856 million.

WilmerHale represented Gate in this transaction with a corporate deal team led by Partner Jekkie Kim, Counsel Mat Trachok, and Associate Helen Park. Advice was also provided on tax matters by Partner Fred Adam, FDA regulatory matters by Partner Bruce Manheim and HSR matters by Carla Gilbertson.