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
Heaviside Industries Unveils the TYR Loitering Munition, A Five-Pound Tank-Killer12.10.2026 13:00:00 EEST | Press release
Heaviside Industries, a builder of multi-domain precision munitions platforms, today introduced its TYR miniaturized loitering munition at the AUSA Annual Meeting & Exposition in Washington, D.C. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261012159239/en/ The first in Heaviside’s line of precision munitions, TYR delivers outsized performance for its weight, combining speed, endurance, and lethal effects in a truly man-packable system. Weighing just over five pounds with a total system weight of approximately 15 pounds, TYR can defeat a wide range of targets, including main battle tanks. TYR offers four Nammo warhead variants — Shaped Charge Anti-Tank, Anti-Structure Munition, Explosively Formed Penetrator, and Anti-Personnel Frag — allowing warfighters to tailor lethal effects across multiple mission sets. TYR can be employed in ground and base defense operations, utilized as a counter-UAS system, or integrated onto larg
Navan Selected by Investec to Modernize Global Travel Program12.10.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
Navan (NASDAQ: NAVN), the global AI-powered business travel and expense platform, today announced it has been selected by Investec, a leading international bank and wealth manager, to upgrade its global travel program. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261009977645/en/ Leading international bank and wealth manager chooses Navan to deliver an AI-first travel program “As Investec continues its digital transformation, we’re excited to partner with an AI-first travel platform to increase adoption and improve operational efficiency,” said Lyndon Subroyen, Investec Group Chief Technology and Operating Officer. As a dual-listed company in the United Kingdom and South Africa, Investec sought a partner to consolidate its travel operations, reduce administrative work, and improve the booking experience for its workforce. Investec needed a solution to increase platform adoption and help employees travel more cost-efficient
Opensignal Launches World’s First Interactive Map of Satellite-to-Smartphone D2D Connections12.10.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
Opensignal, a global independent consumer connectivity analytics and insights company, today launched the Opensignal D2D Satellite Map, the world’s first interactive, real-world depiction of where direct-to-device (D2D) satellite connections with smartphones are happening across the globe. Every point on the map, which will be updated monthly, represents a location where smartphones have connected to a D2D service since January 2026, extracted from Opensignal’s billions of real-world measurements. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261011884935/en/ Opensignal D2D Satellite Map “D2D is reshaping who can deliver mobile coverage, and where, because the phone in your pocket can now reach a satellite directly. Until now, the industry has had to make decisions without knowing where momentum and adoption are real,” said Mike Sandy, President, Market Performance at Opensignal. “The Opensignal D2D Satellite Map provides a
Demand for Tech Services in Europe Continues to Surge, Led by AI-Driven Infrastructure Spending in Q3: ISG Index™12.10.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
Surging AI demand propelled Europe’s technology services market to a new high in the third quarter, as infrastructure spending more than doubled and traditional managed services grew by double digits, the latest state-of-the-industry report from Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a global AI-centered technology research and advisory firm, finds. The EMEA ISG Index™, which measures commercial outsourcing contracts with annual contract value (ACV) of US $5 million or more, shows third-quarter ACV for the combined market (both managed services and cloud-based infrastructure and software services) soared 56 percent—its fastest growth in eight years—to US $14.9 billion. It was the fourth straight quarter that combined ACV growth has exceeded 20 percent, averaging 39 percent in that span. “The European market is absolutely roaring right now,” said Anthony Drake, president, ISG EMEA. “After surpassing US $10 billion for the first time in last year’s fourth quarter, demand continu
Carta Secures Authorization to Operate as Fund Administrator and Transfer Agent in Luxembourg12.10.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
Carta, the connected platform and AI-native ecosystem for private capital, today announced it has received authorization to operate as a fully-licensed Specialised Professional of the Financial Sector (PSF) under the supervision of the CSSF (Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier) in Luxembourg. The authorization covers five statutory functions — registrar agent, corporate domiciliation agent, company incorporation and management services, administrative agent of the financial sector, and client communication agent — adding licensed fund administration and transfer agency directly to a platform already serving Luxembourg fund managers. Luxembourg is the second-largest fund domicile in the world, home to approximately 5,000 alternative investment fund entities managing over €1 trillion in assets. It is also the preferred jurisdiction for over 1,000 US and APAC fund managers running parallel or feeder structures, representing more than $333 billion in AUM. For managers operating
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