Boehringer Ingelheim and Gubra Join Forces to Identify and Validate Innovative Peptides for the Treatment of Obesity

• The research agreement builds upon the successful relationship between Boehringer Ingelheim and Gubra and expands Boehringer Ingelheim’s research into approaches with first in class potential for the treatment of obesity
• Obesity is a complex cardiometabolic disease with growing global prevalence and limited treatment options that are not sufficiently effective or are associated with adverse events

INGELHEIM, Germany & HØRSHOLM, Denmark--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Boehringer Ingelheim and Gubra today announced a new research and licensing agreement focused on the identification and validation of targets and innovative peptide compounds for the treatment of obesity. This new collaboration builds on the positive experience from previous partnerships with Gubra and combines Gubra’s proprietary streaMLine platform and expertise in obesity and peptide chemistry with Boehringer Ingelheim’s expertise in lead optimization and clinical development. The companies share the goal of providing new obesity therapies with increased tolerability that support greater weight loss than current therapy options.

“This marks the third joint research program between Boehringer Ingelheim and Gubra in the area of obesity since 2017,” said Søren Tullin, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Global Head of Cardiometabolic Diseases Research, Boehringer Ingelheim. “We’re delighted to expand our established working relationship and proven track record with Gubra to uncover next-generation anti-obesity treatments. This latest research agreement further strengthens and complements Boehringer Ingelheim’s cardiometabolic portfolio. We are committed to becoming a leader in the obesity space and to providing new therapy options to help people with high unmet medical needs.”

Obesity is a complex chronic disease that requires long-term management. It is among the leading risk factors for several cardio-metabolic diseases, such as heart disease, ischemic stroke, liver diseases incl. NASH and type 2 diabetes, as well as for a number of cancers.ⁱ The global prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically over the last decade and nearly tripled between 1975 and 2016,ⁱⁱ affecting around 650 million adults worldwide today.ⁱⁱ It is projected that by 2030, close to half of the U.S. population will have obesity.ⁱⁱⁱ Current treatment options have limited efficacy in terms of weight loss or are often associated with adverse events.

“We are particularly pleased about this third collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim,” said Henrik Blou, CEO of Gubra. “Over the past four years our two companies have built a strong drug discovery relationship. In this third collaboration, Gubra is responsible for the early discovery of peptides – now applying our proprietary target and drug discovery platform streaMLine. After initial maturation, projects are handed over for further development to Boehringer Ingelheim. This approach, we believe, has the potential to take obesity treatment to the next level for the benefit of patients around the world.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Gubra is primarily responsible for early research activities. Boehringer Ingelheim will advance the programs further and bring promising candidates into non-clinical and clinical development. Financial terms of the new agreement are not disclosed.

Please click on the following link for ‘Notes to Editors’ and ‘References’:
http://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/research-collaboration-gubra-obesity-treatment