Dermira vets license back candidates from Eli Lilly to launch their own upstart

About a year after Eli Lilly absorbed Dermira in a $1 billion buyout, the dermatology company’s co-founders are licensing back three inflammatory disease programs they helped develop for their own upstart, Evommune.

Lilly had its sights set on lebrikizumab, a cast-off from Roche that Dermira picked up for $135 million in near-term cash. But Dermira was also focused on a broader anti-inflammatory pipeline, according to Luis Peña, Evommune president and CEO and Dermira’s co-founder and former chief development officer. That broader pipeline is what Evommune is looking to mine for its own efforts.