Eli Lilly just wrote a $40 million check to cure baldness.
The pharma giant behind Zepbound and Mounjaro—which made the injectable culturally normal for millions of Americans—led a $100 million stock offering in Absci, a generative AI drug company. Adage, BVF Partners, Columbia Threadneedle, Invus and Redmile also participated. Absci used AI to design ABS-201, an injectable antibody targeting the prolactin receptor (a hormone receptor connected to both hair growth and reproductive health). The injectable is meant to treat both androgenetic alopecia (commonly known as male or female pattern baldness) and endometriosis. No approved existing injectable antibody treats either one.
