Lilly backs $65M raise for biotech plumbing the ‘dark genome’ with AI

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Eli Lilly Backs $65M Series A for HAYA Therapeutics to Harness AI in Mapping the 'Dark Genome'

Eli Lilly has supported a $65 million Series A funding round for HAYA Therapeutics, a biotech company focused on mapping the “dark genome,” which refers to genes that do not encode for proteins but play roles in gene regulation and cell function1 3.
The “dark genome” includes long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), previously regarded as “transcriptional noise,” but now recognized for their roles in gene expression and disease2 5.
HAYA Therapeutics utilizes AI and proprietary discovery platforms to identify disease-driving cell states and novel lncRNA therapeutic targets, aiming to develop new genetic medicine therapies that could modify disease states—particularly for obesity and related metabolic conditions2 5.
Eli Lilly’s interest follows a broader $1 billion collaboration with HAYA targeting RNA-based therapies for obesity, underscoring Big Pharma’s growing recognition of lncRNAs as promising next-generation therapeutic targets2 5.
The Lilly-HAYA partnership could yield future obesity drug candidates that go beyond the protein-coding genome by acting on regulatory genomic elements, potentially enhancing or augmenting the effectiveness of current and future obesity treatments2 5.
This funding and collaboration reflect a paradigm shift in drug discovery, moving “first in biology” to leverage newly acknowledged molecular targets outside the traditional protein-coding genome5.