Boehringer Ingelheim Partners with Enleofen to Develop First-in-Class Anti-IL-11 Therapies for a Range of Fibrotic Diseases
9.1.2020 15:00:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
Boehringer Ingelheim and Enleofen Bio Pte. Ltd. (Enleofen) announced today the acquisition of worldwide exclusive rights to Enleofen’s preclinical interleukin-11 (IL-11) platform by Boehringer Ingelheim to develop first-in-class therapies across a broad range of fibro-inflammatory diseases. The new partnership combines Boehringer Ingelheim’s leading expertise and comprehensive pipeline in fibrotic diseases with Enleofen’s world-leading expertise in IL-11 biology and the company’s extensive range of therapeutic antibodies targeting this pathway.
“The impressive preclinical studies at Enleofen have revealed the potential of IL-11 blockade to treat a broad range of diseases,” said Clive R. Wood, Ph.D., Corporate Senior Vice President and Global Head of Discovery Research at Boehringer Ingelheim. “We are excited to have these monoclonal antibodies in our pipeline and have the opportunity to accelerate their path to many patients whose needs are not met by current treatments.”
IL-11 is a cytokine, a protein certain cells of the body use to communicate, and plays a key role in fibro-inflammatory conditions. Blocking IL-11 action has been shown to inhibit disease across many organs (liver, lung, kidney, retina, bowel, heart and skin). In preclinical studies, antibody-based IL-11 antagonists were able to prevent and reverse inflammation and fibrosis, and restore organ function.
Enleofen is a spin out company from the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) at SingHealth and Duke-NUS Medical School under the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre (AMC), Singapore and exclusively licensed a suite of patents and number of antibody products when it was founded in 2017, from the AMC. Subsequent to this, Enleofen has built an extensive anti-IL-11 antibody platform and advanced its drug development programs towards the clinic. Boehringer Ingelheim will now develop this platform further and plans to work jointly with scientists at the AMC to accelerate the platform into clinical development. The initial focus will be on novel therapies for patients with NASH and ILDs, two of Boehringer Ingelheim’s core disease focus areas, with a potential to expand into further fibro-inflammatory conditions based on IL-11’s central role in disease.
“Enleofen is very excited to engage Boehringer Ingelheim, a leader in anti-fibrotic therapy R&D to develop further anti-IL-11 therapies to begin to address the unmet medical needs of patients worldwide,” said Prof Stuart Cook, Director and co-founder of Enleofen. “The preclinical data across a range of conditions are unprecedented and this new approach of targeting IL-11 could be a game changer”.
The acquisition of the IL-11 program from Enleofen strengthens Boehringer Ingelheim’s pipeline portfolio, which combines approaches that are effective across multiple fibrotic diseases with disease-specific approaches to achieve greater therapeutic effect and builds on the experience gained with nintedanib in fibrotic lung diseases. Boehringer Ingelheim will be solely responsible for the clinical, regulatory and commercial development of the licensed therapies. Under the terms of the agreement, Enleofen may receive earn out payments in excess of one billion USD per product in upfront and success-based development and commercialization milestones.
For references and notes to editors, please visit:
http://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/fibrotic-diseases-partnership-enleofen
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/20200109005346/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
reinhard.malin@boehringer-ingelheim.com
Linda Ruckel
Associate Director, Media and Corporate Reputation
Boehringer Ingelheim U.S.
Media + PR
P: + 203-791-6672
linda.ruckel@boehringer-ingelheim.com
Enleofen
Charu Srivastava
charu@redhill.asia
+65 91810614
Mariyam Haider
mariyam@redhill.asia
+65 86056752
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
OM Pharma to Unveil the Largest Multi-Country Real-World Evidence Study on Broncho‑Vaxom® (OM‑85) for RTI Prevention at EAACI 202614.6.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
OM Pharma will reveal preliminary results from the REACH study at the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) Congress. REACH is the first and largest multi-country real-world evidence (RWE) study to date evaluating the impact of Broncho-Vaxom® in patients with recurrent respiratory tract infections (RTIs).1,2 The findings offer critical new clinical evidence of the therapy's effectiveness in everyday clinical practice. In a real-world cohort of 15,794 paediatric (aged >1 year), adolescent, adult and elderly patients in China, Italy, and Belgium, Broncho-Vaxom® was associated with reductions in RTI recurrence and healthcare utilisation at 12 and 24 months after treatment initiation, compared with the 12 months prior to starting the therapy.1 “The REACH real-world evidence study shows that Broncho-Vaxom® can significantly reduce infections requiring medical visits across age groups and co-morbidities,” said Anna Thomas, Chief Scientific Officer at OM Pharma. “Recurre
Incyte Announces New Positive Data at EHA 2026 Showed INCA033989 Achieved Rapid, Robust and Sustained Clinical and Molecular Responses and Was Well Tolerated in Patients with Myelofibrosis and Essential Thrombocythemia13.6.2026 18:15:00 EEST | Press release
Incyte (Nasdaq:INCY) today announced updated clinical data from two Phase 1 studies evaluating the safety, tolerability and efficacy of INCA033989, a first-in-class mutant calreticulin (mutCALR)-targeted monoclonal antibody, in patients with mutCALR-expressing myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). INCA033989 demonstrated rapid, clinically meaningful responses and consistent molecular activity across both myelofibrosis (MF) and essential thrombocythemia (ET), with convergent evidence supporting the potential for disease modification. These findings are being presented in oral and poster presentations at the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2026 Congress in Stockholm, Sweden (Session: Myeloproliferative neoplasms – Clinical, Presentation numbers: S216, PS1983, PF884). “The data presented at EHA 2026 demonstrate clinically meaningful and consistent responses with INCA033989 across both myelofibrosis and essential thrombocythemia,” said Pablo J. Cagnoni, M.D., President of Incyte and G
Results from Incyte’s Pivotal Phase 3 frontMIND Trial of Tafasitamab (Monjuvi ® /Minjuvi ® ) Combination Presented at the 2026 European Hematology Association (EHA) Congress Plenary Showed Prolonged Progression Free Survival13.6.2026 13:00:00 EEST | Press release
Incyte (Nasdaq:INCY) today announced positive results from the pivotal Phase 3 frontMIND trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of tafasitamab (Monjuvi®/Minjuvi®), a humanized Fc-modified cytolytic CD19-targeting monoclonal antibody, and lenalidomide added to R-CHOP (rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisone; Tafa-Len-R-CHOP) versus R-CHOP, the current standard of care, as a first-line treatment for adults with previously untreated diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) or high-grade B-cell lymphoma (HGBL). Eligible patients had an International Prognostic Index (IPI) score of 3-5, or, for patients ≤60 years of age, an age-adjusted IPI (aaIPI) of 2-3. These data are being highlighted in a prestigious Plenary Abstracts Session at the European Hematology Association (EHA) 2026 Congress, being held June 11 - 14, 2026, in Stockholm, Sweden (Abstract # S101. Plenary Abstract Session. June 13, 6:00 - 7:30 a.m. ET [12:00-1:30 p.m. CEST]). frontMIND results were als
Charlotte Tilbury awarded CBE in the King’s Birthday Honours 202613.6.2026 00:31:00 EEST | Press release
Charlotte Tilbury CBE, sole Founder, President, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Charlotte Tilbury Beauty, has been awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours 2026 for services to the beauty and cosmetics industry. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260612679101/en/ Charlotte Tilbury, founder, president, chairman and chief creative officer of Charlotte Tilbury Beauty, who has been awarded a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 2026 for services to the beauty industry and entrepreneurship. (Photo: Charlotte Tilbury team) This honour recognises Charlotte’s contribution to leading and building Britain’s most successful global beauty brand. She has played a defining role in revolutionising the beauty industry and driving economic growth of the UK beauty sector, which has expanded from approximately £17bn in 2013 to over £31bn today. Charlotte Til
IQM Appoints Barbara Venneman, Vanguard Board Director and Former Global Head of Deloitte Digital, to its Board of Directors12.6.2026 19:36:00 EEST | Press release
IQM Quantum Computers, the global leader in superconducting quantum computers, today announced the appointment of Barbara Venneman to its Board of Directors. Venneman deepens the Board's expertise in digital transformation, enterprise technology commercialization, and global business scaling as IQM expands its commercial footprint worldwide. Additionally, CEO and Co-founder Jan Goetz will replace Co-founder Juha Vartiainen as the Founder representative on the IQM Board. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260612650938/en/ IQM Appoints Barbara Venneman, Vanguard Board Director and Former Global Head of Deloitte Digital, to its Board of Directors Ms. Venneman joins the IQM Board of Directors following a distinguished career at the intersection of advanced technology, strategy, and business transformation. She most recently served as Global Head of Deloitte Digital and previously held senior global leadership roles,
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