HK Stock Market Move | INSILICO (03696) rose more than 10% in early trading, the company reached a $2.75 billion cooperation agreement with Lilly, the CEO stated their willingness to maintain independence.

Shares of INSILICO (03696) surged more than 10% in the early trading session, and as of the time of writing, rose by 10.71% to reach HK$62, with a trading volume of HK$1.3 billion. On the news front, recently, Eli Lilly reached a major cooperation agreement with INSILICO. Eli Lilly obtained the exclusive sales rights for a GLP-1 blood sugar lowering drug developed by INSILICO's AI technology. The initial payment is $115 million, with a total amount reaching up to $2.75 billion. According to the cooperation agreement, Eli Lilly will have access to the use of INSILICO's artificial intelligence platform, and both parties will jointly utilize the platform's AI engine to accelerate the discovery and development process of new drugs in multiple therapeutic areas. It is worth noting that this cooperation has sparked speculation in the market about whether Eli Lilly will acquire INSILICO. According to a Caixin report, on the afternoon of March 30, INSILICO founder and CEO Alex Zhavoronkov denied the rumors of Eli Lilly acquiring the company during an interview. He stated, "At present, the company's valuation is relatively low, and at this stage, we still hope to maintain independence. There is no possibility of the company being acquired by a pharmaceutical company. In fact, global technology companies like Google are also venturing into AI-powered drug discovery, but AI pharmaceuticals require a lot of experimental validation, which is also why INSILICO is focusing on China, where the infrastructure and policy support are unique."