BOEHRINGER INGELHEIM ENTERS GLOBAL LICENSING AGREEMENT TO DEVELOP AND COMMERCIALIZE INNOVATIVE ANTIBODIES FROM A*STAR FOR TARGETED CANCER THERAPIES
2.6.2022 16:10:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
Boehringer Ingelheim and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) today announced a global licensing agreement under which Boehringer Ingelheim will obtain exclusive worldwide rights to research, develop and commercialize products based on a panel of innovative, tumor-specific antibodies from A*STAR. Boehringer Ingelheim aims to use these antibodies to direct therapeutic effector mechanisms such as antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and T-cell engagers exclusively to tumor cells, and to that end develop a range of highly targeted cancer treatments.
“Boehringer Ingelheim believes that these promising antibodies in-licensed from A*STAR will help us advance potent therapeutic candidates against key molecular cancer targets,” says Clive R. Wood, Senior Corporate Vice President and Global Head of Discovery Research at Boehringer Ingelheim and continues: “We look forward to developing these assets for a broad range of cancers with the goal to deliver breakthrough opportunities for patients.”
Boehringer Ingelheim is pioneering a range of versatile therapeutic platforms in order to develop innovative medicines that target the tumor directly (tumor cell-directed therapies) or that enable the immune system to target the tumor (immune cell-targeted therapies). One tumor cell-directed modality is antibody drug conjugates, which allows for delivery of toxins directly into tumor cells. Another is T-cell engagers facilitating direct contact between T-cells and tumor cells, leading to T-cell-mediated killing of the tumor. Both technologies are directed towards markers on the surface of cancer cells, also known as antigens, in order to attack tumor cells but spare healthy tissues.
The innovative antibodies from A*STAR can potentially enable the development of safer, more efficacious therapies as they selectively bind to antigens that are highly expressed on tumor cells but are absent on normal healthy tissues.
Under the terms of the agreement, Boehringer Ingelheim will be responsible for further research, preclinical and clinical development as well as commercialization of targeted cancer therapies using the antibodies from A*STAR. A*STAR may receive payments totalling >100 million EUR in upfront and success-based development and commercialization milestones.
The technology used to identify the unique A*STAR antibodies resulted from a multi-institutional collaboration in Singapore. A*STAR’s Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and Institute of Bioengineering & Bioimaging (IBB) generated antibodies which exclusively target antigens that were initially identified from gastric cancer cells. Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC), Singapore’s national platform for drug discovery and development hosted by A*STAR, then optimized the antibodies and confirmed their applicability to a range of other solid cancers. EDDC also demonstrated the utility of these antibodies in directing different therapeutic modalities selectively to cancer cells.
Professor Damian O'Connell, Chief Executive Officer of EDDC, says, “As Singapore's national drug discovery and development platform, EDDC is proud to translate great science in Singapore into valuable assets that can enable the precise treatment of cancer. We believe that Boehringer Ingelheim, with its broad expertise and technologies, is the right partner to maximize the potential of these antibodies for the development of safer, more targeted therapies for cancer patients.”
Professor Tan Sze Wee, Assistant Chief Executive (Enterprise) of A*STAR, says, “These antibodies were developed in Singapore through close collaboration across multiple institutions. There was also strong support by the Singapore Gastric Cancer Consortium. The agreement is testament to the best-in-class research taking place in Singapore. Cancer is a devastating disease, and we hope the fruits of our research can improve patient outcomes.”
Please click on the link for “Note to Editors’ and ‘References’:
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/20220602005475/en/
Contact information
For media queries and clarifications:
Dr. Reinhard Malin
Innovation Unit Communications
Corporate Affairs
Boehringer Ingelheim
Tel: +49 6132 77-90815
Email: reinhard.malin@boehringeringelheim.com
Owen Sia
Assistant Head, Corporate Communications
Agency for Science, Technology and Research
Tel: +65 6517 7866
Email: owen_sia@hq.a-star.edu.sg
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
Grindr for Equality Commits to Connecting 10M to HIV Prevention by 202827.7.2026 17:31:00 EEST | Press release
Today at the 2026 International AIDS Conference, Grindr for Equality committed to connecting ten million LGBTQ+ people to HIV prevention by 2028, leveraging its platform reach to advance the global effort to end HIV by 2030. The commitment is rooted in Closing the Gap, a new Grindr for Equality report drawing on survey data from Grindr users across ten countries. The central finding is consistent across countries: people know about PrEP but they are not taking it. The barrier is access and the funding that existed to address it is disappearing. "Connecting people is what Grindr does at a scale and in communities that traditional public health systems don't effectively reach," said George Arison, CEO and Chairman of Grindr (NYSE: GRND). "The global HIV response is losing critical funding at the exact moment we should be accelerating to end HIV by 2030. Grindr has the reach and the responsibility to help close that access gap -- and we are proud to step up." Fifteen million people use Gr
InterSystems Launches Data Studio AI Assistant to Accelerate Enterprise Data Exploration and Insights27.7.2026 17:00:00 EEST | Press release
InterSystems, a creative data technology provider powering some of the world's most important applications, today announced the general availability of InterSystems Data Studio™ AI Assistant, a new generative AI-powered extension for InterSystems Data Studio that helps organizations more easily understand, navigate, query, and visualize data through natural language interactions. As organizations move from AI experimentation to production deployments, many are discovering that the greatest challenge is not the AI model itself, but providing AI systems with access to trusted, current, and business-ready information. Enterprise data is often fragmented across applications, databases, cloud services, files, data warehouses, and departmental silos, making it difficult for users and AI systems to generate reliable insights. “Organizations are increasingly looking for ways to turn their data into actionable intelligence without adding complexity,” said Scott Gnau, Senior Vice President, Data
PMI U.S. Opens $1.2 Billion Aurora Campus, Strengthening U.S. Manufacturing and Export Capabilities27.7.2026 15:00:00 EEST | Press release
Philip Morris International Inc.’s (PMI) (NYSE: PM) U.S. businesses (PMI U.S.) today celebrated the opening of its Aurora, Colorado manufacturing campus, a landmark investment representing total capital expenditures of $1.2 billion from 2024-2028. The campus expands the company’s domestic manufacturing capabilities, strengthens supply chain resilience, and positions Aurora as a strategic production and export hub supporting future growth. The site began commercial production in July 2026 and produces ZYN nicotine pouches, joining PMI U.S.’s growing modern nicotine manufacturing network, which includes operations in Owensboro, Kentucky, and Wilson, North Carolina. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260727514086/en/ PMI U.S. Opens $1.2 Billion Aurora Campus, Strengthening U.S. Manufacturing and Export Capabilities Situated on a 148-acre site, the approximately 780,000-square-foot campus is PMI’s first greenfield ma
Tecnotree Strengthens LATAM Growth with New Digital Transformation Contracts Worth USD 8.8 Million27.7.2026 14:20:00 EEST | Press release
Tecnotree, a global leader in AI-native Digital Business Support Systems (BSS) and digital platform solutions, today announced it has secured new digital transformation contracts across Latin America with a combined value of USD 8.8 million, reinforcing the company’s continued commercial momentum and expanding its presence across one of its key strategic growth markets. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260727931342/en/ Tecnotree Strengthens LATAM Growth with New Digital Transformation Contracts Worth USD 8.8 Million Across the engagements, Tecnotree will deploy its AI-native digital platform and B2B Marketplace for enterprises to simplify customer and business operations through intelligent digital engagement, real-time monetization, digital commerce and partner ecosystem management and AI driven marketing and experience management. By providing a unified digital foundation, the platform enables communications
Pure Lithium Corporation Appoints Mercedes-Benz Battery Veteran Dr. Tobias Glossmann as Chief Product Officer27.7.2026 14:00:00 EEST | Press release
Pure Lithium Corporation, a vertically integrated next-generation lithium metal battery company and developer of the patented Brine to Battery™ technology, today announced the appointment of Dr. Tobias Glossmann as Chief Product Officer. In this role, Dr. Glossmann will lead product and technology strategy, guiding the translation of Pure Lithium’s battery science into engineered products and directing the company’s product engineering efforts. Dr. Glossmann joins Pure Lithium after a 25-year career across Mercedes-Benz companies, most recently serving as Principal Systems Engineer at Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America. His work spanned advanced battery technology development, from materials through complete battery systems, and he held companywide responsibility for high voltage safety. His career began in 2001 with battery systems development at DaimlerChrysler in Ulm, Germany, and later in Michigan, giving him more than two decades of experience across cell chemistry
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