NEW YORK, December 28, 2025, 20:34 ET — Market closed
- Eli Lilly shares last traded at $1,077.75, up $0.55, or 0.1%, after Friday’s session.
- South Korea’s ABL Bio said it will receive a $40 million upfront payment and a $15 million equity investment from Lilly tied to a research collaboration.
- Investors are watching 2026 catalysts, including a U.S. review of Lilly’s oral obesity drug candidate orforglipron and further readouts for next-generation obesity programs.
Eli Lilly shares ended the holiday week little changed after South Korean biotech ABL Bio said it would receive $55 million in funding from the U.S. drugmaker under a research collaboration.
The funding is small by Lilly standards, but it underscores how closely investors are tracking the company’s dealmaking and research spending as it looks to extend growth beyond its blockbuster diabetes and obesity franchise.
That focus has sharpened into year-end as traders look ahead to 2026, when regulatory decisions and clinical readouts across Lilly’s obesity pipeline are expected to drive sentiment in the sector.
Lilly shares last traded at $1,077.75, up $0.55, or 0.1%, from the prior close. The stock traded between $1,068.30 and $1,081.39 in the latest session.
The broader market was largely flat on Friday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipping slightly.
ABL Bio said it will receive a $40 million upfront payment for a license, research and collaboration agreement related to its Grabody platform, alongside a $15 million equity investment from Lilly.
“ABL Bio will receive the upfront payment and equity investment from Lilly,” ABL Bio CEO Sang Hoon Lee said in the statement. PR Newswire
ABL Bio said the arrangements follow agreements signed in mid-November that it valued at about $2.602 billion, including the upfront payment, with additional payments tied to milestones and other terms.
The company said it plans to use the funding to expand the platform’s potential uses into areas including obesity and muscle disorders.
Lilly has been one of the biggest winners in obesity drugs, led by Mounjaro and Zepbound. Those medicines are part of a class known as GLP-1 treatments, which mimic gut hormones that help regulate appetite and blood sugar.
Investors are also weighing how quickly Lilly can bring next-generation products to market, including an oral GLP-1 candidate, orforglipron, and newer injectable programs that could broaden its franchise.
Before the next session, traders will be scanning for further pipeline and partnership headlines, especially those that point to longer-term growth beyond Lilly’s current GLP-1 lineup.
Lilly is due to host its fourth-quarter earnings call on Feb. 4, 2026, according to its investor events calendar, with investors expected to focus on sales momentum for its obesity and diabetes drugs and any updates on manufacturing capacity.
Technically, traders will watch whether the stock holds above the recent low near $1,068 and whether it can push back through the $1,081 area, the latest session high.
