Fauna Bio has announced the designation of a target under its strategic obesity discovery collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly), initiated in December, 2023.

The designated target, identified using Fauna Bio’s proprietary Convergence AI platform, represents a potential first-in-class approach to treat obesity by leveraging insights from hibernating mammals that naturally regulate body weight and metabolism. This milestone triggers a payment to Fauna Bio under the terms of the collaboration agreement.

“This target designation validates the power of our Convergence platform to identify truly novel biology in metabolic disease. By studying how hibernating mammals achieve remarkable feats of metabolic regulation—including dramatic, healthy weight cycling—we are uncovering therapeutic targets that have eluded traditional discovery approaches,” said Ashley Zehnder, PhD, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Co-Founder, Fauna Bio.

The Convergence AI platform analyses genomic data from over 450 mammal species, including more than 60 hibernators, integrating this comparative biology with human patient data to identify disease-relevant targets. The platform’s proprietary Graph Neural Network enables rapid evaluation and prioritisation of novel targets across multiple therapeutic modalities.

“We are pleased to advance this collaboration into its next phase. This achievement reflects the deep scientific expertise of both teams and reinforces the value of our unique approach to drug discovery,” continued Zehnder.