Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany – Boehringer Ingelheim on Wednesday announced a multi-target collaboration agreement with Chinese biotech Suzhou Ribo Life Science and its Swedish unit Ribocure Pharmaceuticals to develop siRNA-based treatments for nonalcoholic or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis.
The companies did not disclose what targets they would focus on, nor did they provide a specific breakdown of the deal’s financial terms. However, they said the deal could potentially exceed $2 billion in value—including the upfront payment and royalties—as well as clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones.
Søren Tullin, senior vice president and global head of cardiometabolic diseases research at Boehringer Ingelheim, said in a statement that the Ribo partnership is in line with the company’s efforts to “address the interconnected nature” of cardiovascular, renal and metabolic (CRM) diseases.
“Our goal is to develop the next wave of innovative medicines that will lead to a holistic health gain for patients,” Tullin said.
Building toward this goal, Boehringer Ingelheim will now be able to leverage Ribo’s proprietary RIBO-GalSTAR platform, which allows the development and delivery of siRNA therapeutics that can target genes specifically in liver cells.
According to the biotech’s website, RIBO-GalSTAR attaches an N-acetylgalactosamine component to the siRNA treatment, which facilitates the entry of the therapeutic agent into the liver cells and “can result in highly specific and highly durable enrichment of the siRNA in hepatocytes.”
Wednesday’s deal with Ribo comes more than six years after Boehringer Ingelheim signed another RNA interference deal with Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, which also targeted non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). In May 2021, Boehringer Ingelheim accepted a candidate under this pact, which meant a single-digit multimillion-dollar preclinical milestone tranche for Dicerna.
Boehringer is also partnered with Massachusetts-based MiNA Therapeutics to develop a small activating RNA therapy for NASH. The companies announced a deal in November 2017.
About Boehringer Ingelheim
Boehringer Ingelheim is working on breakthrough therapies that transform lives, today and for generations to come. As a leading research-driven biopharmaceutical company, the company creates value through innovation in areas of high unmet medical need. Founded in 1885 and family-owned ever since, Boehringer Ingelheim takes a long-term, sustainable perspective. More than 53,000 employees serve over 130 markets in the two business units Human Pharma and Animal Health.
ABOUT SUZHOU RIBO LIFE SCIENCE CO., LTD., and Ribocure Pharmaceuticals AB
Suzhou Ribo Life Science Co., Ltd. is an innovative clinical stage R&D company devoted to the development of nucleic acid drugs and related products based on the RNA interference (RNAi) technology. With its innovative R&D capabilities with vertically integrated technological platforms, Ribo has built a strong product pipeline, aiming to make contribution to the treatment of serious diseases with unmet medical needs. As a subsidiary of Ribo Life Science Co., Ltd., Ribocure Pharmaceuticals AB is dedicated to globalized development of life-saving oligonucleotide therapies, with focus on development of assets and pipeline as well as new target ideas and on building innovative capacities to conduct clinical trials and developing siRNA drugs to address real unmet medical needs globally.
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