Audion Therapeutics has announced that it has received a Series A investment from Eli Lilly and Company to enable the company to progress its programs targeting sensorineural hearing loss.

As part of the investment, the parties also entered into a licensing agreement that gives Audion the rights to certain Lilly compounds that can be developed to potentially treat hearing loss by hair cell regeneration.

Under the terms of the license, Lilly has an option to reacquire these rights upon successful clinical Proof of Concept. Financial terms were not disclosed. Following the investment, Mr. Shaun Hawkins, Vice President of Lilly New Ventures, has become a member of Audion’s Supervisory Board.

Rolf Jan Rutten, CEO of Audion commented: “This commitment by Lilly is an important next step in the development of our company. The investment validates our scientific approach and it underlines the potential of our hair cell regeneration program. It allows us to expand our infrastructure with a laboratory facility in Cambridge, Mass. and gives us access to a selection of Lilly’s potent, proprietary molecules that will push Audion’s lead program significantly forward”.