Rznomics, a clinical-stage South Korean biotech developing RNA-based gene therapies, is joining Lilly Gateway Labs (LGL) — Eli Lilly’s innovation hub in San Diego — to accelerate its drug discovery and development.
Importantly, this is an incubator partnership, not an acquisition. Rznomics keeps its independence while gaining access to wet-lab facilities, Lilly scientists and executives, and support for candidate development, global clinical infrastructure, partnerships and US-based R&D hiring.
What Rznomics brings
The company runs a target-gene database of more than 200 disease targets and works on RNA-based approaches to gene therapy. “Joining Lilly Gateway Labs in San Diego represents a meaningful milestone for Rznomics’ proprietary RNA platform,” said CEO Seong-Wook Lee.
Why it matters
Lilly Gateway Labs is part of a broader Lilly Catalyze360 ecosystem that offers biotech startups lab space, capital and expertise without taking them over. For big pharma, incubators are a way to stay close to emerging platforms like RNA therapeutics; for small biotechs, they provide scale that would otherwise take years to build. The deal reflects rising interest in RNA-based medicines beyond the vaccines that made the technology famous.