San Diego-based VivoSim said the payment was triggered by first-patient dosing in Phase 2 studies, while the company forecast sharp growth in NAM-based contract research demand from drugmakers.
VivoSim Labs said it received a $5 million milestone payment from Eli Lilly tied to a former inflammatory bowel disease drug program that VivoSim had previously developed and sold outright. The payment was triggered by dosing the first patient in Phase 2 studies in Eli Lilly’s development program. VivoSim said Eli Lilly fully controls the drug’s development, while VivoSim remains eligible for up to $45 million in additional milestone payments if regulatory and commercial targets are met over time. The company also issued FY2027 guidance calling for more than 500% revenue growth, citing momentum in marketing contract research services built around NAMs (non-animal drug testing methods) models to pharmaceutical companies. VivoSim said customer response to the predictive power of its models is helping the platform gain traction across a broad customer base. VivoSim highlighted performance data for its NAMkind Liver and Intestine models, saying the liver spheroid model reached 91% predictive accuracy, with 90% sensitivity, 95% specificity, and 99% precision under repeat-dose conditions, while its intestine models delivered greater than 90% sensitivity and overall accuracy for predicting drug-induced diarrhea. The company said its approach combines primary human cell types, multiple biological readouts, and AI prediction models (artificial intelligence systems trained on data) to improve preclinical safety assessment. The release also framed the business against a broader regulatory shift. The FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) is encouraging human-relevant NAMs in place of animal studies, and VivoSim pointed to the agency’s April 2025 Roadmap to Reducing Animal Testing in Preclinical Safety Studies as a catalyst for pharmaceutical adoption of newer in vitro (lab-based, outside the body) testing technologies.