Boehringer Ingelheim and Tsinghua University Team up to Develop Novel Treatment Approaches that Rally the Immune System Against Infectious Diseases
Boehringer Ingelheim and Tsinghua University in Beijing announce a collaboration aiming to research and develop immunological therapies for infectious diseases. Scientists will work in the Boehringer Ingelheim-Tsinghua University Joint Research Center for Immuno-Infection to harness the mechanisms of immune modulation to combat infectious diseases. The collaboration brings together the leading expertise of Tsinghua University in infectious disease research and immunology with Boehringer Ingelheim’s experience in the development of novel therapies for patients suffering from diseases with high unmet medical need and its comprehensive research and development programs in cancer immunology and immune modulation.
Infectious diseases such as lower respiratory tract infections (e.g. bacterial/viral pneumonia) and tuberculosis are amongst the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. In China, chronic hepatitis B and tuberculosis are of high prevalence and associated with high mortality. Although pathogen-directed treatments and vaccinations have greatly reduced the impact of infectious diseases in past decades, they continue to be a major challenge for health. Increasing levels of resistance threaten the effectiveness of many anti-microbial drugs. No new antibiotic classes were developed during the past three decades and many treatments fail to achieve cure, resulting in large numbers of patients at risk due to long-term persistent infections.
Similar to cancer, many pathogens may inhibit or modulate their host’s immune system and thus circumvent immune defense. Immune system activating therapies, which have brought a major therapeutic breakthrough in cancer may open similar transformative opportunities for infectious disease treatment.
“Value through innovation has been the driving force of Boehringer Ingelheim to meet the unmet medical need for patients, and to better serve society”, said Professor Zheng You, Vice President of Tsinghua University. “For Tsinghua University, innovation is one of the most important aspects we pursue, and this is the basis and synergy for this partnership.”
Professor Chen Dong, Dean of School of Medicine at the Tsinghua University says, “We look forward to combining Boehringer Ingelheim’s leading competencies in immune oncology and immunology and the discovery and clinical development of new therapeutic agents with our leading expertise and strength in anti-infective therapy research and especially in immune modulation, for patients suffering from diseases with high unmet medical needs.”
“The joint scientific hub gives our scientists the opportunity to work hand in hand with the outstanding scientists from Tsinghua University to discover novel treatment approaches in the field of immunology and infectious diseases,” explains Clive R. Wood, Ph.D. Senior Corporate Vice President, Discovery Research at Boehringer Ingelheim. “This partnership has the potential to open new approaches for currently untreatable infectious diseases.”
“Our collaboration with Tsinghua University is a further expression of our strong commitment to supporting research and development in China, and acknowledges the leading position China has achieved in many scientific areas”, said David Preston, President and CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim Greater China.
This collaboration is an initiative of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Research Beyond Borders (RBB) and Cancer Immunology and Immune Modulation Research Departments. Immuno-infection is a new focus area for Boehringer Ingelheim’s RBB department, which also focuses on gene therapy, regenerative medicine and the role of the microbiome in human health and disease.
With the new collaboration, Boehringer Ingelheim further expands its activities in the growing biomedical innovation hot spot of China. By combining a focus on cutting-edge science with a long-term view, the company aspires to develop the next generation of medical breakthroughs to improve the lives of patients suffering from diseases with high unmet medical needs.
For notes to editors, please visit:
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180904005401/en/
Contact information
Boehringer Ingelheim
Dr. Reinhard Malin
Head of
Communications, Innovation Unit
Boehringer Ingelheim Corporate
Center GmbH
Media + PR
P: +49 6132 77-90815
press@boehringer-ingelheim.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
BeOne Medicines Presents New SEQUOIA Study Results Reinforcing BRUKINSA’s Differentiated Profile with or without Venetoclax in Frontline CLL at ASCO 202531.5.2025 15:00:00 EEST | Press release
BeOne Medicines Ltd. (NASDAQ: ONC; HKEX: 06160; SSE: 688235), a global oncology company, today will present new data from the Arm C and D cohorts of the pivotal, global Phase 3 SEQUOIA trial of BRUKINSA® (zanubrutinib). The findings underscore the strong and consistent efficacy of BRUKINSA across CLL patient types, including high-risk mutation status. These data will be presented in two rapid oral presentations at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL. Data from the Arm D of SEQUOIA demonstrate that treatment with BRUKINSA plus venetoclax has the potential to drive progression-free survival and overall deep and durable responses across the frontline CLL patient spectrum, including patients with high-risk mutational status. The best undetectable minimal residual disease (uMRD) rate in peripheral blood at a sensitivity level 10-4 was 59%. These efficacy responses observed in Arm D, despite the high proportion of high-risk patients enrolled, are in
You Up? Grindr’s “Right Now” Goes Global30.5.2025 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Grindr, the Global Gayborhood in Your Pocket™ with more than 14.6M average monthly active users, today announced the global launch of Right Now, their newest intent-based feature designed to instantly connect people looking for immediate encounters. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250530651954/en/ Grindr's Right Now feature. Right Now is a real-time feed—separate from the app’s main grid that displays profiles—where Grindr users can post text and share photos displayed for one hour, letting other like-minded users know exactly what they’re looking for. “Right Now empowers our users to find exactly what they want, when they want it – without the guesswork,” said AJ Balance, Chief Product Officer at Grindr. “We built this intention-based feature based on feedback from our community so they can connect with like-minded people without wasting time on mismatched expectations. The response to our initial March launc
CAR T Vision Coalition Launches with Ambitious Goal to Double Patients Treated with the Curative Potential of CAR T-cell Therapy by 203030.5.2025 15:00:00 EEST | Press release
Today an international coalition announces the launch of CAR T Vision to unite stakeholders around the shared ambition that every eligible patient should have the opportunity for cure with CAR T-cell therapy. By 2030, the aim is to double the proportion of eligible patients treated with CAR T-cell therapy. As outlined in the new roadmap report, the coalition will work to address access challenges and drive meaningful change in the CAR T-cell therapy healthcare ecosystem with a focus on three critical priorities: increasing awareness and understanding of CAR T-cell therapy; expanding resources and capacity to deliver CAR T-cell therapy; and developing sustainable and innovative financing approaches to manage the costs of treatment and care. “Despite CAR T-cell therapy being available in the United States for nearly seven years in large B-cell lymphoma, only approximately two out of 10 eligible patients with some advanced blood cancers ever receive CAR T-cell therapy,” said Miguel Perale
Indian Educationist Dr. Achyuta Samanta Recognised With Research Institute in His Name at CUNY, USA30.5.2025 12:17:00 EEST | Press release
In a noteworthy development underscoring growing academic collaboration between India and the United States, the City University of New York (CUNY) has launched a dedicated research platform—the Achyuta Samanta India Initiative of the CUNY CREST Institute (ASIICCI). This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250529012005/en/ Dr. Milton Santiago, President of Bronx Community College, and Dr. Achyuta Samanta, Founder of KIIT & KISS, jointly inaugurate the Achyuta Samanta India Initiative of CUNY CREST Institute (ASIICCI) with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in New York. Named after Dr. Achyuta Samanta, a noted Indian educationist and social worker, the initiative focuses on academic research in Indian social and educational sectors, with a particular lens on Odisha. This marks one of the rare instances of a living Indian being honoured with such a naming in an American public university system. Dr. Samanta, who hails from Odisha
FDA Grants De Novo Clearance for Reflow Medical's Spur ® Peripheral Retrievable Stent System30.5.2025 07:08:00 EEST | Press release
Reflow Medical, Inc., a leading developer of innovative medical devices focused on complex cardiovascular disease, announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted De Novo clearance for the company’s Spur Peripheral Retrievable Stent System, a unique clinical solution for the treatment of de novo or restenotic lesions following predilatation in patients with infrapopliteal arterial disease. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250529610368/en/ The first and only retrievable stent system that features a self-expanding stent with an integrated dilatation balloon catheter on an over-the-wire system. It is designed for controlled lesion penetration and treatment through a series of radially expandable spikes. Known as Retrievable Scaffold Therapy (RST), the spikes on the Spur Stent penetrate the lesion to increase the acute luminal diameter and modify the lesion morphology to change vessel complia
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom