Lamas sind die Geheimwaffe der großen Pharmakonzerne, um neue Medikamente zu finden

*Lisa Pham for Bloomberg News*

One llama is sprawled on the grass with its neck craned, basking in a patch of sunshine. Another stands on a dirt hill, ears flattened defiantly. A third rushes to greet visitors with a friendly nuzzle.

This isn’t a petting zoo. The furry beasts are in Belgium for work.

Scientists have discovered the potential of the animals’ antibodies to thwart multiple diseases, and now drug developers are collectively plowing billions of dollars into a field that may yield a fresh generation of life-changing medicines. The targets include some hard-to-treat conditions like cancer, nerve pain and a chronic skin ailment.

The llamas are a vital part of the experiment. In between dust baths and grazing, they get injections to trigger the production of their precious antibodies. The animals are some of the few to produce the tiny proteins, dubbed nanobodies, which scientists praise as easy to produce, manipulate and engineer.

“They have this Lego-like nature that you can just snap them together any way you want to, which is really unique,” says Mark Lappe, the chief executive of US biotech Inhibrx Biosciences Inc. “If you try to do that with regular antibodies, it’s wildly complex.”

The field is burgeoning, albeit quietly for now. A Sanofi drug for a rare autoimmune blood disorder was the first medicine developed using llama antibodies to hit the market. AstraZeneca Plc recently released results for an experimental medicine to treat another autoimmune dysfunction that could be a potential blockbuster. And US pharma giant Eli Lilly & Co. has partnered with Belgian biotech firm Confo Therapeutics to gain rights to a product exploring a new approach to pain management.

[Read the full story here.](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-01-23/astrazeneca-sanofi-eli-lilly-eye-nanobodies-for-possible-new-treatments?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2OTE2Mzg4NCwiZXhwIjoxNzY5NzY4Njg0LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUOUFXS1pLSVAzSUgwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJEMzU0MUJFQjhBQUY0QkUwQkFBOUQzNkI3QjlCRjI4OCJ9.Hi4bMC1iXcRGz0UMs0-wYcDn3Sc6Z-da9bezpsJ_L_s)