Gate CEO sees expanded $870M pact with Lilly as ‘vote of confidence’ in biotech’s platform

Biotech Gate CEO sees expanded $870M pact with Lilly as ‘vote of confidence’ in biotech’s platform By Marissa Russo Oct 5, 2026 8:00am Gate Bioscience Eli Lilly small molecules Licensing deals Eli Lilly has been pushing at an open door by tacking on $870 million in biobucks to its existing collaboration with Gate Bioscience. The Indianapolis Big Pharma's first deal with Gate last year hinged on using the California biotech's discovery engine to identify small-molecule drugs—dubbed “molecular gates.” That deal had $856 million biobucks attached, although the companies didn't disclose which targets had been selected for the partnership. Now, Gate has doubled the potential value of the collaboration.

Again, the partners remained tight-lipped about the scientific or financial details, only saying that the expanded deal adds one more target—with the chance to add a second. Gate will receive an upfront payment followed by another payout if a second target is selected, along with research funding and other milestones that could bring the add-on deal's value to $870 million. Gate CEO Jordi Mata-Fink, Ph.D., told Fierce that the expansion of the collaboration represented a “vote of confidence” by Lilly in the biotech's platform.

“Lilly has had a front-row seat to our team and our engine and what we can do,” the CEO added. Gate’s molecular gate discovery platform is built on the scientific understanding that proteins have to pass through a single common channel, the secretory translocon (SEC61), on their journey from inside to outside the cell, Mata-Fink explained. The company's so-called molecular gates are designed to eliminate disease-causing proteins by blocking them inside the cell thanks to the creation of a “gate” in the channel.

Mata-Fink compared the molecular gates to a “bouncer at the door checking IDs” of the proteins passing through the SEC61 channel. The molecular gates are engineered to recognize a unique sequence on the diseased protein and block it from passing through the channel. Founded in 2021, the Bay Area biotech emerged from stealth with a $60 million series A financing in 2023 with backing from the likes of Versant Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners and GV.

It followed that up with a $65 million series B last year that saw Lilly hop aboard as an investor. An advantage to Gate’s pipeline, Mata-Fink told Fierce, is how the molecular gates are a “disease-agnostic modality,” meaning they can be applied to any disease of interest. The biotech’s most advanced internal asset is targeted for prion disease, a progressive and fatal brain disorder caused by misfolded proteins in the brain.

One example of a prion disease is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.The secret to a successful Big Pharma dealmaking strategy is one of the hot topics being discussed at Fierce Biotech's high-impact event in London next month. Find out more information and register by clicking on the banner below: Where Big Pharma Is Placing Its Bets Gate Bioscience Eli Lilly small molecules Licensing deals Deals Biotech