Boehringer Ingelheim agrees $2bn siRNA therapeutic collaboration

Boehringer Ingelheim has agreed to collaborate with Suzhou Ribo Life Science Co and Ribocure Pharmaceuticals AB (Ribo), to develop new RNAi therapeutics for nonalcoholic or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (NASH/MASH). The deal exceeds a value of $2 billion and will utilise Ribo’s expertise in small interfering RNA (siRNA) treatments.

Ribo’s cutting edge RIBO-GalSTAR™ platform enables the development of RNAi therapeutics targeting disease-causing genes specifically in hepatocytes. This is achieved by silencing the messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in these genes, according to Boehringer Ingelheim. As a result, this approach could treat diseases addressing previously inaccessible drug targets, the company stated.

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Søren Tullin, PhD, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Cardiometabolic Diseases Research at Boehringer Ingelheim stated: “This new partnership is part of our commitment to collaborate with peers worldwide to address the interconnected nature of cardiovascular, renal and metabolic (CRM) diseases.”

“We are very pleased about the opportunity to work with Boehringer Ingelheim to develop new solutions for people living with NASH,” Zicai Liang, CEO of Ribo Life Sciences commented on the siRNA-focused collaboration.

Under the new agreement, Ribo will receive an upfront payment and is also eligible for success-based milestones and tiered royalties.

Boehringer Ingelheim’s recent M&A activity

In November 2023, Boehringer announced that it planned to acquire the Swiss biotech T3 Pharmaceuticals AG (T3 Pharma), for up to £406 million (450 million CHF).

The partnership deal will provide Boehringer Ingelheim with access to a bacterial cancer therapy platform that enables the design of immuno-oncology combination therapies in one single agent.

Commenting on the acquisition last year, Michel Pairet, responsible for Boehringer Ingelheim’s Innovation Unit and a Member of the company’s Board of Managing Directors, shared: “The acquisition of T3 Pharma will significantly expand our immuno-oncology pipeline portfolio… This will bring us closer to achieving our vision of driving a paradigm shift in cancer care treatments.”