Boehringer Ingelheim and Enara Bio Enter Strategic Collaboration and Licensing Agreement to Discover Novel Shared Antigens for Cancer Immunotherapies
12.1.2021 12:00:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
Boehringer Ingelheim and Enara Bio, today announced that they have entered into a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement to research and develop novel targeted cancer immunotherapies, leveraging Enara Bio’s Dark Antigen™ discovery platform. This new collaboration combines Boehringer Ingelheim’s approach to tackle cancer through pairing leading science with innovative immune-oncology platforms, such as oncolytic viruses and cancer vaccines, with Enara Bio’s expertise in cancer antigen identification. The aim is to provide potential new therapies for patients with difficult to treat lung and gastrointestinal cancers.
“We are excited to partner with Enara Bio as part of our mission to bring transformative new treatments to cancer patients,” said Jonathon Sedgwick, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Global Head, Cancer Immunology & Immune Modulation Research, Boehringer Ingelheim. “We are advancing a unique pipeline of cancer cell-directed agents, immuno-oncology therapies and intelligent combination approaches to help combat cancer. Enara Bio’s unique discovery platform offers a novel and highly differentiated approach that will allow us to look beyond the known proteome to identify and characterize Dark Antigens to support the development of T-Cell Receptor (TCR)-directed immunotherapies and therapeutic vaccines. We believe this is a highly innovative and promising approach to the development of the next wave of cancer immunotherapies.”
Enara Bio’s proprietary Dark Antigen Platform Technology (EDAPT™) will be used to discover and validate novel Dark Antigens in up to three tumor types in the lung and gastrointestinal cancer space. The discovery of shared antigens could lead to the development of vaccines that can be readily utilized to help a broader group of cancer patients.
Dark Antigens represent a new class of cancer-associated antigens that derive from the genomic dark matter, or the portion of the human genome that is normally not expressed as protein. Dark Antigen-encoding sequences are usually silenced in healthy cells but are activated and presented on tumor cells. They are associated with specific cancer types and, importantly, are shared across patients. Since typically not visible to the immune system, they represent a large potential repertoire of novel antigens that can be developed as targets for new immunotherapies.
“We are extremely pleased to enter this strategic licensing agreement, our first major deal leveraging our pioneering Dark Antigen discovery and validation capabilities,” said Kevin Pojasek, President and CEO of Enara Bio. “Boehringer Ingelheim is an innovation-led company dedicated to producing breakthrough treatments with a significant focus on cancer. We are excited to build this relationship and are encouraged that Boehringer Ingelheim shares our view of the potential of Dark Antigens to be a source of important and unconventional targets for novel cancer immunotherapies. This agreement provides strong validation for our science and our approach to exploiting the cancer-associated antigenic repertoire derived from genomic dark matter and we look forward to a productive collaboration.”
This collaboration with Enara Bio is the latest of several strategic partnerships and acquisitions for Boehringer Ingelheim to build its cancer vaccine platform and provides important validation for Enara Bio’s Dark Antigen platform. The past acquisitions of ViraTherapeutics and AMAL Therapeutics’ vaccine modalities coupled with Enara Bio’s capabilities position Boehringer Ingelheim to develop sophisticated virus and vaccine modalities for its prime/boost vaccine platform.
Under the agreement, Boehringer Ingelheim has the option to license Dark Antigens discovered and validated by Enara Bio. Boehringer Ingelheim will also be responsible for all non-clinical and clinical development, as well as commercialization of associated cancer immunotherapies, including therapeutic vaccines and T-cell redirecting biologics. Enara Bio retains rights to use any discovered antigens for use in cell therapy-based products.
Enara Bio is eligible to receive an upfront payment, together with research/preclinical milestones and licensing fees for each tumor type that is explored. Enara Bio is also eligible to receive more than EUR 876 million in clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, in addition to royalties on future product sales.
Please click on the following link for ‘Notes to Editors’:
http://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/strategic-collaboration-enarabio
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/20210112005444/en/
Contact information
Media Contacts
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
Linda Ruckel
Senior Associate Director, Media and Corporate Reputation
Boehringer Ingelheim U.S.
Media + PR
P: 203-791-6672
press@boehringer-ingelheim.com
Enara Bio
Enara Bio Limited
Kevin Pojasek, CEO
P: +44(0)1865 504 994
info@enarabio.com
Citigate Dewe Rogerson
Mark Swallow, Frazer Hall, Nathaniel Dahan
P: +44 (0)20 7638 9571
enarabio@citigatedewerogerson.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
BarmeniaGothaer Modernizes Front-to-Back Investment Platform with Bloomberg and Clearwater Analytics31.3.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
Bloomberg and Clearwater Analytics (NYSE: CWAN) today announced that BarmeniaGothaer Asset Management AG, one of Germany’s top 10 insurance asset managers managing more than 50 billion euros in assets, has gone live on Bloomberg’s buy-side solutions and has selected Clearwater Analytics as its middle- and back-office management platform, including accounting and data management, completing its front-to-back investment transformation across the organization. The merger of Barmenia and Gothaer in 2024 has created the opportunity to successfully unite two distinct technology and data environments, thereby advancing investment management to a new level. By integrating Bloomberg’s buy-side solutions and Clearwater Analytics into its operations, BarmeniaGothaer Asset Management AG is creating a future-proof investment management workflow that meets the organization’s efficiency goals in an increasingly dynamic capital market, and provides cutting-edge technologies for the entire investment l
TREASoURcE Final Conference: 14 April 2026, Brussels – Circular Systemic Solutions: From Demos to Deployment31.3.2026 10:32:00 EEST | Press release
The EU-funded TREASoURcE project will present its key results and policy messages at the Final Conference on 14 April 2026 in Brussels, bringing together policymakers, industry representatives, researchers, cities and civil society actors from across Europe. The full-day conference focuses on how circular economy solutions can move from pilot projects to broader deployment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260331360899/en/ Join us in Brussels for the TREASoURcE Final Conference on circular solutions. Over four years, TREASoURcE has developed and tested scalable circular solutions across three value chains: plastics, batteries, and biobased side and waste streams. From demonstrations to deployment: addressing Europe’s scaling challenge The final conference responds to one of the key challenges facing Europe’s circular transition: how to move beyond successful local demonstrations towards wider market uptake and
Thermochemical Energy Storage Leader Redoxblox Rebrands as Tempo31.3.2026 10:00:00 EEST | Press release
Redoxblox, a leader in thermochemical energy storage (TCES) on a mission to electrify the world with technology that shifts the power dynamic, today announced its rebrand to Tempo. The new identity marks the company’s transition from technology development to the commercial scaling of its breakthrough electrified heat platform. The rebrand, developed in partnership with renowned creative agency Red Antler, aligns Tempo’s strategic identity with its unique ability to meet the rigorous demands of heavy industry. The name Tempo is a nod to three core pillars of the company’s value proposition: Temperature leadership, the time-shifting of energy, and the pace of both continuous industrial heat delivery and rapid innovation. “As we move from technical validation toward large-scale commercial rollout, our brand must reflect the scale of the challenge we are solving,” said Pasquale Romano, CEO of Tempo. “Tempo represents our ability to deliver the extreme temperatures industry requires while
STV Group and Post-Quantum Successfully Trial World’s First Quantum-Resilient Drones31.3.2026 10:00:00 EEST | Press release
STV Group a.s., a European defence technology integrator with platforms deployed in Ukraine and allied theatres, and Post-Quantum, the UK cybersecurity company, today announced successful testing of the world’s first quantum-safe drones for active deployment across allied theatres. As allied nations adapt to warfighting defined by autonomous systems and drones, the ability to futureproof secure communications between drones and their operators is of paramount importance. Drone swarms procured today may be stored and deployed in future operations years later. This dynamic requires drones manufactured today incorporate encryption that’s resistant to attack by both classical and quantum computers. The collaboration combines STV’s combat-tested unmanned systems and command-and-control infrastructure with Post-Quantum’s patented post-quantum cryptography and secure radio technologies. The two companies have now successfully trialled the new approach at STV’s weapons testing facility in the
Schneider Electric Joins Thread Group Board of Directors31.3.2026 10:00:00 EEST | Press release
The Thread Group, an industry alliance addressing IoT convergence, security, power, and architecture challenges, today announced that Schneider Electric has joined its Board of Directors. A member of the Thread Group since 2015, Schneider Electric will take a more active role in shaping the future of the Thread wireless networking protocol moving forward. This addition comes at a pivotal time for the organization, with Thread recently surpassing 1000 consumer products, and as we continue to see expansion into commercial markets. Thread 1.4 delivers significant benefits for commercial and industrial applications, including seamless communication, enhanced reliability, and performance in expansive IoT deployments. "The entire Thread Group will benefit from Schneider Electric’s deeper engagement in our efforts," said Vividh Siddha, President of Thread Group. "A dedicated member for more than a decade, their expertise in energy management and building automation is invaluable, especially a
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