Boehringer Ingelheim and The Lieber Institute for Brain Development to Collaborate to Develop Centrally Acting COMT Inhibitors for Treatment of Neuropsychiatric Disorders
Boehringer Ingelheim and the Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD) today announced a joint research and licensing collaboration focused on the development of novel centrally acting COMT (catechol-O-methyltransferase) inhibitors for the potential treatment of cognitive deficits in a spectrum of neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. Aligning with a circuitry-based approach to precision psychiatry, the collaboration will leverage Boehringer Ingelheim’s deep experience in central nervous system (CNS) drug discovery and development alongside Lieber’s expertise in centrally acting COMT inhibitors. Ultimately, the partnership will focus on advancing novel COMT inhibitor candidates into the clinic.
“Psychiatric disorders including cognitive impairment in schizophrenia have historically been difficult indications to treat and continue to remain areas of high unmet need. This collaboration with the Lieber Institute further expands our innovative neuropsychiatric research program, a key focus area at Boehringer Ingelheim, with a first-in-class mechanism that may have the potential to address these symptoms,” said Dr. Hugh Marston, Ph.D., Head of Department CNS Diseases Research at Boehringer Ingelheim. “By combining our expertise, we hope to make significant steps forward to finding solutions for patients for which there currently is no treatment.”
COMT, a dopamine metabolizing enzyme, is key to the modulation of dopamine in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of the brain. Adequate function of dopamine signaling is critical for a number of cognitive and behavioral processes that are impaired in a variety of neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders such as schizophrenia. While peripherally acting COMT inhibitors are currently used as an adjunctive therapy in the treatment of neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, this new collaboration is investigating centrally acting COMT inhibitors in neuropsychiatric disorders.
Recent studies from the Lieber Institute suggest an important role of centrally acting COMT inhibitors in the potential symptomatic treatment of various neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. The potential of centrally acting COMT inhibitors has not yet been evaluated in the clinic due to the unavailability of such compounds. In partnering with the Lieber Institute, Boehringer Ingelheim has in-licensed preclinical pipeline candidates, representing a first-in-class approach for targets in neuropsychiatric disorders.
“The Lieber Institute has a long-standing effort exploring centrally acting COMT inhibitors as part of its mission to understand the genetic and molecular mechanisms of schizophrenia and related brain disorders,” said Daniel R. Weinberger, M.D., LIBD CEO & Director. “We are excited to embark on this partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim to identify potential therapeutic candidates and advance them to clinical development in order to help improve the lives of those affected by this serious mental health condition.”
Financial details of the collaboration were not disclosed.
Please click on the following link for ‘Notes to Editors’:
http://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/collaboration-libd
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/20210316005641/en/
Contact information
Media Contacts
Sarah Soetbeer
Boehringer Ingelheim Corporate Center GmbH
Media + PR
P: +49 6132 77 183874
press@boehringer-ingelheim.com
Linda Ruckel
Associate Director, Media and Corporate Reputation
Boehringer Ingelheim U.S.
Media + PR
P: +1 203-791-6672
press@boehringer-ingelheim.com
Jean DuBose
Lieber Institute for Brian Development
media@libd.org
P: +1 443-676-4363
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
EIG Acquires a 49.87% Stake in Transportadora de Gas del Perú (TgP)19.12.2025 19:42:00 EET | Press release
EIG, through its managed investment vehicles, acquired a 49.87% equity stake in Transportadora de Gas del Perú S.A. (“TgP”) from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board today. TgP operates Peru’s principal natural gas and natural gas liquids pipelines under a long-term concession, supplying approximately 40% of the country’s power generation. “We are delighted to complete this transaction and embark on the next chapter of our partnership with TgP,” said Matt Hartman, EIG’s Global Head of Infrastructure. “Our priority is to support TgP’s operational excellence and long-term stability, delivering value for customers and stakeholders throughout Peru.” About EIG EIG is a leading institutional investor in the global energy and infrastructure sectors with $24.3 billion assets under management as of September 30, 2025. EIG specializes in private investments in energy and energy-related infrastructure on a global basis. During its 43-year history, EIG has committed over $51.7 billion to the energ
CyberArk Named a Leader in IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Integrated Solutions for Identity Security 202519.12.2025 18:00:00 EET | Press release
CyberArk (NASDAQ: CYBR), the global leader in identity security, today announced that it has been recognized as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Integrated Solutions for Identity Security 2025 Vendor Assessment. CyberArk extends dynamic privilege controls across all identity types with its unified platform, enabling organizations to improve efficiencies and streamline security operations. This IDC MarketScape report notes, “More change has occurred in the identity security marketplace in the past two years than in almost a decade. Vendors are entering a new phase defined by the emergence of intelligence technologies, none of which are specifically defined by any industry standards. Though different by design, the new adjacent IAM offerings are largely focused on improved vulnerability and threat management visibility and automated and predictive attack detection capabilities.” It also notes, “By addressing these evolving identity types within a unified framework, CyberArk enh
New York Liberty and Ant International’s Alipay+ Announce Multiyear Partnership Focused on Empowerment, Sustainability and Youth Development19.12.2025 15:30:00 EET | Press release
The New York Liberty and Ant International’s Alipay+, a leading cross-border fintech services platform based in Singapore, today announced a multiyear partnership, making Alipay+ an Official Sponsor and Innovation Partner for Sustainability of the New York Liberty. Through this partnership, Alipay+ and the Liberty will jointly support community programs designed to advance community empowerment, environmental sustainability and youth development across New York City. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251219678825/en/ Peng Yang, CEO, Ant International and Clara Wu Tsai, Vice Chair, Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment; Governor, New York Liberty “Our partnership with Alipay+ goes beyond the game,” said Keia Clarke, Chief Executive Officer, New York Liberty. “Together, we are investing in the future of New York—its people, its environment, and its youth. Ant International’s commitment to community empowerment, sustai
Parse Biosciences and Codebreaker Labs Partner to Apply Whole Transcriptome Single Cell Profiling and Causal Genomics at Scale19.12.2025 15:00:00 EET | Press release
Parse Biosciences, the leading provider of scalable and accessible single cell sequencing solutions, today announced a collaboration with Codebreaker Labs to develop and validate a breakthrough platform capable of testing thousands of genetic variants in parallel and measuring their effects at single cell resolution. By combining Codebreaker’s synthetic biology platform and variant engineering capabilities with the scale and accessibility of Parse’s Evercode™ technology, the collaboration aims to generate the causal data increasingly sought by AI developers, drug discovery teams, and clinical researchers. Today’s genomic studies rely heavily on observational data, or variants that appear in large populations. But rare and private variants, often only seen in one individual or family, are nearly impossible to study this way because too few carriers of the variant exist to draw statistically meaningful conclusions. As a result, even the most advanced models trained on observational datas
Cyviz Awarded Two Classified NATO Defense Contracts19.12.2025 09:00:00 EET | Press release
Norwegian technology and platform company Cyviz AS has been awarded two classified defense contracts by major European NATO-partner nations to deliver a fully mobile, containerised Command & Control (C2) capability, strengthening Europe’s operational readiness in high-threat and expeditionary environments. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251218625485/en/ Image from a previous military exercise where Cyviz demonstrated a mobile command center solution. The contracts cover the design, integration, and delivery of secure, deployable operations centres engineered to NATO security standards, enabling military and security forces to establish full theatre-class command capability wherever operations require. Due to the sensitive nature of the missions, contract value and customer identities remain undisclosed. From Demonstrated Readiness to Operational Deployment The awards follow growing interest among European def
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