Abbisko Therapeutics Co., Ltd. and Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY) are deepening their relationship with a new strategic research collaboration that could be worth up to $1.9 billion. The deal, announced Tuesday, aims to discover and develop innovative medicines across multiple disease targets.

The partnership combines Abbisko's early-stage drug discovery platform with Lilly's global development and commercialization muscle. Under the terms, Abbisko will lead discovery and early-stage development for novel drug programs targeting diseases selected by Lilly. The company will lean on its research ecosystem and development expertise to move candidates forward.

Financially, Abbisko gets an upfront payment and is eligible for development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments totaling as much as approximately $1.9 billion. On top of that, Abbisko could receive tiered royalties tied to annual net sales of any products that come out of the collaboration.

This isn't the first time these two have worked together. The new agreement builds on a prior partnership established in 2022, when Abbisko and Lilly entered into a global collaboration and exclusive license agreement focused on a novel small-molecule therapeutic. Abbisko says its evolving drug discovery platform and execution capabilities have helped it broaden its network of global partnerships while speeding up the translation of scientific research into actual therapies.

Lilly has been on a bit of a dealmaking tear lately. In June alone, the company announced separate licensing and research agreements with South Korea's Hanmi Pharm and China's Haisco Pharmaceutical Group, expanding its access to new drug candidates and discovery programs.

As for Lilly's stock, shares were up 0.36% at $1,111.03 at the time of publication on Wednesday.