Eli Lilly just placed a $40 million bet on the next injectable boom

Eli Lilly invested $40 million in Absci, a generative AI drug company, to develop ABS-201, an injectable antibody for baldness and endometriosis. The deal, part of a $100 million stock offering, aims to leverage AI-designed drugs and low-cost clinical trials in China to disrupt the injectable market, which is projected to reach $650 billion by 2026.

Eli Lilly https://fortune.com/company/eli-lilly/ just wrote a $40 million check https://investors.absci.com/news-releases/news-release-details/absci-announces-pricing-100-million-underwritten-offering to cure baldness. The pharma giant behind Zepbound and Mounjaro—which made the injectable culturally normal for millions of Americans—led a $100 million stock offering https://investors.absci.com/news-releases/news-release-details/absci-announces-pricing-100-million-underwritten-offering in Absci, a generative AI drug company. Adage, BVF Partners, Columbia Threadneedle, Invus and Redmile also participated. Absci used AI to design ABS-201, an injectable antibody targeting the prolactin receptor a hormone receptor connected to both hair growth and reproductive health . The injectable is meant to treat both androgenetic alopecia commonly known as male or female pattern baldness and endometriosis. No approved existing injectable antibody treats either one. Last week, Lilly’s deal with Absci closed the same day Absci released positive Phase 1 safety data https://investors.absci.com/news-releases/news-release-details/absci-announces-positive-interim-phase-1-data-headlinetm-trial on ABS-201. Absci CEO Sean McClain told me the $40 million buys Lilly “tickets to the game.” In short, proximity. They share a DTC ambition—Lilly has LillyDirect, and Absci wants to sell biologics almost like a consumer brand. McClain floated the idea of eventually fusing his drug with a GLP-1 compound: one shot for hair regrowth and weight loss. “You could see in the future where you’ve combined those products,” he told me. “Total vitality at an affordable price.” That’s the market this deal is actually pointing at. https://www.jpmorgan.com/insights/global-research/current-events/obesity-drugs GLP-1s have made injecting yourself unremarkable https://www.jpmorgan.com/insights/global-research/current-events/obesity-drugs . The broader injectable market is a $650 billion opportunity https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/injectable-drugs-market in 2026. GLP-1s alone are projected to hit $190–$200 billion https://www.morganstanley.com/insights/articles/glp1-weight-loss-market-may-double-190-billion-2035 by 2030. But oral GLP-1 versions from Lilly and Novo Nordisk https://fortune.com/company/novo-nordisk/ are already on shelves, and the convenience argument for shots is getting harder to make—unless the biology demands it. Absci’s CMO Ransi Somaratne’s case for why ABS-201 stays injectable: proteins get destroyed in the stomach, and a pill version would reach the brain in ways a shot doesn’t. McClain’s bigger argument is about where value actually lives in AI drug discovery—as AI tools become cheaper https://fortune.com/2026/06/15/exclusive-ai-dna-radical-numerics-eric-nguyen-biology-biodefense-drug-discovery/ and more widely available, pharma companies will pay less and less to license them, meaning the only real leverage is owning the drug itself. Absci’s thesis is to use AI-designed drugs plus clinical trials run in China https://clinicaltrialsarena.com/news/absci-100m-financing-endometriosis-pattern-hair-loss-therapy/ at a fraction of U.S. cost to compress the path from target to Phase 2 proof-of-concept from $150 million to $15–$20 million. “AI, China, and DTC,” he said. “That is going to change the game in healthcare.” The money flooding into this space tells its own story. Isomorphic Labs https://fortune.com/2026/05/27/spacexs-ipo-filing-is-full-of-surprises/ —Alphabet’s AI drug design spinout—raised a $2.1 billion Series B in May. Earendil Labs, a U.S.-China AI biologics startup backed by Sanofi https://fortune.com/company/sanofi/ and Pfizer https://fortune.com/company/pfizer/ , pulled in $787 million https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/earendil-labs-financing-ai-biologics-china-sanofi/815336/ in March. And Xaira Therapeutics launched with $1 billion https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/new-ai-drug-discovery-powerhouse-xaira-rises-1b-funding before it had a single drug in the clinic. Against that backdrop, Absci the only publicly traded company in the group has raised over $530 million total https://investors.absci.com/news-releases/news-release-details/absci-announces-pricing-100-million-underwritten-offering and is already in Phase 1. Whether ABS-201 becomes the first AI-designed antibody to prove it truly works in people is still unknown. But Lilly putting its name and $40 million on the cap table means the race just got a very powerful backer. See you tomorrow, Lily Mae LazarusX: @LilyMaeLazarus https://archive.ph/o/tzAhs/https://x.com/LilyMaeLazarus Email: lily.lazarus@fortune.com mailto:lily.lazarus@fortune.com Submit a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here mailto:termsheet@fortune.com . Joey Abrams curated the deals section of today’s newsletter. Subscribe here https://archive.ph/o/tzAhs/https://fortune.com/newsletters/term-sheet . VENTURE DEALS - Beeline Medicines https://beelinemedicines.com/ , a Boston, Mass.-based clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on precision therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, raised $126.3 million in a Series A extension from Bain Capital , Canada Pension Plan Investment Board , and others. - Dominion Dynamics https://www.defendthedominion.com/ , an Ottawa, Canada-based defense technology company building Arctic surveillance networks and autonomous drone systems for national security, raised CAD $139 million $100 million USD in Series A funding. Georgian led the round and was joined by Valor Equity Partners , Expeditions , Lakestar, OMERS , and others. - Higharc https://www.higharc.com/ , a Durham, N.C.-based AI software company designed to help homebuilders design, sell, and manage new homes, raised $95 million in Series C funding. Insight Partners led the round. - Stathera https://www.stathera.com/ , a Montreal, Canada-based semiconductor company, raised $55 million in Series B funding. Maverick Capital led the round and was joined by Celesta Capital , BDC Capital , MediaTek Innovation Fund , TXC Corporation , and Ultratech Capital Partners . - Queue https://queue.inc/ , a Palo Alto, Calif.-based developer of a fully-autonomous robotic pharmacy, raised $12.6 million in seed funding. AlleyCorp led the round and was joined by House Capital , Ubiquity Ventures , Grep Ventures , and Banter Capital . - MDOTM https://www.mdotm.ai/ , a London, U.K.-based AI-powered portfolio management platform for institutional investors and asset managers, raised $27 million in funding. Expedition Growth Capital led the round. - Pie https://getpie.com/ , a New York City-based AI-powered growth platform for small businesses, raised $19.5 million in Series A funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round and was joined by Capital One Ventures, SciFi VC , F-Prime , Commerce Ventures , WEX Venture Capital , and existing investors. - Build.inc https://build.inc/ , a San Francisco-based company designed to improve AI-native infrastructure and developer tools to help teams build, deploy, and scale AI applications, raised $8.5 million in seed funding. Index Ventures led the round and was joined by Pebblebed , Puzzle Ventures , and Tiny.vc . - Arcturus https://www.arcturus.io/ , a Los Angeles, Calif.-based advanced materials company developing materials for energy, aerospace, and industrial applications, raised $8 million in seed funding. Initialized Capital led the round and was joined by 1517 , Breakthrough Energy Discovery , Toyota Ventures , and Wireframe Ventures . - Dawnguard https://dawnguard.ai/ , an Amsterdam, Netherlands-based cybersecurity company, raised $6.3 million in pre-seed funding. BNVT Capital led the round and was joined by Curiosity VC and eCAPITAL . - Acti https://openacti.com/ , a Singapore-based agentic keyboard designed to automate workflows and text generation to help users work faster, raised $5.3 million in funding. BITKRAFT Ventures led the round. PRIVATE EQUITY - Martis Capital acquired a majority stake in Deerfield Group https://deerfieldgroup.com/ , a Conshohocken, Pa.-based marketing, communications, and media partner for the healthcare and life sciences sectors. Financial terms were not disclosed. - PestCo Holdings , a portfolio company of Thompson Street Capital Partners , acquired Arrow Pest Control https://arrownj.com/ , a Morganville, N.J.-based pest control company. Financial terms were not disclosed. - ServiceTrade , backed by JMI Equity , acquired Mura https://www.mura.co/ , a Durham, N.C.-based agentic AI platform that automates field service billing and collections. Financial terms were not disclosed. EXITS - Authentic Brands Group acquired Care Bears https://www.carebears.com/ , a Cleveland, Ohio-based family entertainment brand, from Cloverlay . Financial terms were not disclosed. - The Visualize Group agreed to acquire eCOGRA https://ecogra.org/ , a London, U.K.-based testing, inspection, certification, and compliance services provider for the gaming industry, from Hanover Investors Management . Financial terms were not disclosed. FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS - Tapestry VC https://www.tapestry.vc/ , a London, U.K.-based venture capital firm, raised $80 million for its third fund focused on repeat founders. Subscribe to Fortune Gulf Brief . Every Tuesday, this new newsletter delivers clear-eyed, authoritative intelligence on the deals, decisions, policies, and power shifts shaping one of the world’s most consequential regions, written for the people who need to act on it.