Taking cancer on through research and clinical collaboration
Transforming innovative scientific ideas into breakthrough therapies for patients increasingly requires a strong, international network of partners. Boehringer Ingelheim is dedicated to collaborating with researchers and the wider oncology community. Our approach is grounded in mutual trust, shared goals and a passion for leading science. Over half of our pipeline compounds are anchored in external collaborations.
Read more about our ongoing collaborations below.
Our research collaborations
We are developing a growing collaborative network with academic centres and biotechnology companies, reflecting our focus on leading science. Our research collaborators include:
University of Dundee
We have joined forces with the University of Dundee to develop PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeric molecules (PROTACs) as new therapeutic modalities. Dr Alessio Ciulli, based at the School of Life Sciences at Dundee, is one of the pioneers in the field of PROTACs, which target disease-causing proteins for degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasome system.1
MD Anderson Cancer Center
We are collaborating with the MD Anderson Cancer Center to develop innovative medicines for various types of cancers, including gastrointestinal and lung cancers.2 The collaboration will initially investigate KRAS inhibition and the TRAILR2/CDH17 antibody from our oncology pipeline.
Vanderbilt University
Early in our endeavour to understand the genetic drivers of cancer, we entered into two multi-year research programs with the cancer drug research laboratory of Professor Stephen Fesik at Vanderbilt University. These programs focus on therapies targeting KRAS, which is one of the most frequently mutated oncogenes in cancer.3
Yale University
Collaborations with Yale University are aiming to develop new immuno-oncology agents, and understand how driver mutations and genetics affect outcomes in lung cancer clinical trials.
National Cancer Center, Japan
We are working together with the National Cancer Center, Japan, to carry out early drug discovery and translational research focusing on specific biomarkers and tumor types that are prevalent in Asia.4
Numab Therapeutics
We are working together with Numab Therapeutics to develop novel immune cell-directed treatments for difficult-to-treat lung and gastrointestinal cancers. The collaboration brings together our leading expertise in the research and development of life-changing breakthrough therapies with Numab’s multi-specific antibody platform.5
Epizyme
A global collaboration focused on the development of novel small-molecule inhibitors directed towards enzymes in the helicase and histone acetyltransferase families – two previously unaddressed epigenetic targets that have been linked to cancers that currently lack therapeutic options.6
Mount Sinai and University of Pennsylvania
Early-stage research project focused on investigating novel targets in colorectal cancer.7-8
Our clinical collaborations
We are involved in a number of collaborations in clinical research, including:
Eli Lilly
We are collaborating with Eli Lilly to investigate xentuzumab* in combination with the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4 and CDK6 inhibitor abemaciclib in patients with metastatic breast cancer.9
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
We are contributing to a first-of-its-kind collaborative trial program to advance treatments for patients with AML, organized by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The Beat AML Master Trial is investigating several medicines from different biopharmaceutical companies. Within the trial, newly diagnosed patients are assigned to a treatment arm based on genomic analysis.
OSE Immunotherapeutics
In partnership with OSE Immunotherapeutics, we are developing BI 765063 (OSE-172)*, a first-in-class myeloid checkpoint inhibitor that blocks the interaction between myeloid cell-surface molecule signal-regulatory protein alpha (SIRPα) and CD47 to restore the immune functions of myeloid cells in the tumor microenvironment.10,11
AMAL Therapeutics
We have partnered with AMAL Therapeutics to develop ATP-128*, a modular, self-adjuvanting, multi-antigenic peptide-based vaccine based on the KISIMA™ platform. ATP-128 is currently in development for advanced colorectal cancer.12
Mirati Therapeutics
We have entered into a clinical collaboration with Mirati Therapeutics to study BI 1701963, a SOS1::pan-KRAS inhibitor blocking KRAS independent of mutation type, and MRTX849, a KRAS G12C selective inhibitor, in patients with solid tumors that harbor the KRAS G12C mutation.13
Boehringer Ingelheim. Press release. https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/boehringer-ingelheim-extends-protac-discovery-program (Accessed: July 2020).
Boehringer Ingelheim. Press release. https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/boehringer-ingelheim-and-md-anderson-form-collaboration (Accessed: July 2020).
Boehringer Ingelheim. https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/human-pharma/innovation-disease-focus/beginning-end-kras-cancers? (Accessed: July 2020).
National Cancer Center, Japan. Press release. https://www.ncc.go.jp/jp/information/pr_release/2017/0711/press_release_20170711.pdf (Accessed July 2020).
Boehringer Ingelheim. Press release. https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/numab (Accessed: July 2020).
Boehringer Ingelheim. Press release. https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/epizymecollaboration (Accessed: July 2020).
Boehringer Ingelheim. Press release. https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.ca/en/press-release/boehringer-ingelheim-establishes-research-alliance-university-toronto-toronto-based (Accessed: July 2020).
University of Pennsylvania: http://veterinaryscholars.boehringer-ingelheim.com/research-awards (Accessed: July 2020).
Clinical trials.gov. NCT03099174. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03099174 (Accessed: November 2018).
Boehringer Ingelheim. Press release. https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.us/press-release/boehringer-ingelheim-and-ose-immunotherapeutics-announce-dosing-first-patient-phase-1 (Accessed: July 2020)
Barclay AN, Brown MH. Nat Rev Immunol 2006;6(6):457–64.
Boehringer Ingelheim. Press release. https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/acquisition-amal-therapeutics (Accessed: July 2020)
Boehringer Ingelheim. Press release. https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/clinicalcollaborationwithmirati (Accessed: September 2020)
*This is an investigational compound and has not been approved. Its safety and efficacy have not been established.
**Afatinib is approved in more than 80 markets, including the EU, Japan, Taiwan and Canada under the brand name GIOTRIF®, in the US under the brand name GILOTRIF® and in India under the brand name Xovoltib®; for the full list, please click here. Registration conditions differ internationally; please refer to locally approved prescribing information.
***Nintedanib is approved in the EU under the brand name VARGATEF® for use in combination with docetaxel in adult patients with locally advanced, metastatic or locally recurrent NSCLC of adenocarcinoma tumor histology after first-line chemotherapy. For the full list of country-specific information, please click here. Nintedanib is not approved in other oncology indications.
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Last updated: January 2021
