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
Inspirit Capital Completes Acquisition of Kaplan Languages Group1.5.2026 02:17:00 EEST | Press release
Inspirit Capital, a specialist investor in corporate carve-outs, and Kaplan, the global education company, have announced the completion of Inspirit’s acquisition of Kaplan Languages Group (KLG) from Kaplan. Financial terms are not being disclosed. KLG, a leading global language education platform, comprises Kaplan International Languages, Alpadia Language Schools, Azurlingua, and ESL Education. Inspirit Capital will support KLG in delivering on its ambitious growth plans, whilst continuing its fundamental mission to transform lives through language education. The next phase of ownership will see the development and launch of a refreshed standalone brand identity for KLG, with further announcements to follow on this in due course. KLG will continue to use the Kaplan name under a transitional license from Kaplan, Inc. until a new brand is announced. About Kaplan Languages Group Since 2006, KLG has provided the highest quality language education and cultural immersion experiences. Kaplan
Grindr Nominates Three New Directors to Its Board of Directors1.5.2026 00:16:00 EEST | Press release
Grindr Inc. (NYSE: GRND), the Global Gayborhood in Your Pocket™, today announced the nomination of Rob Solomon, Lisa Gersh, and Fadi Hanna to stand for election to its Board of Directors at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders on June 2, 2026. Rob Solomon is a deeply seasoned technology CEO and operator in consumer internet and marketplaces. He has held CEO and COO roles at scaled platforms including GoFundMe, Groupon, and Kayak-predecessor SideStep, and is currently CEO of leading electric aviation company H55. Lisa Gersh is a CEO and long-tenured public company director with deep experience across consumer brands, media, and commerce. She has served on the Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) board since 2010 and has led businesses including Oxygen Media, GOOP, and Alexander Wang. Fadi Hanna is Chief Risk Officer at Bloomberg L.P., overseeing enterprise risk across the organization. He previously worked at J.P. Morgan and has served on the board of Immigration Equality. “Over the last few years, we bu
The Empire State Building Celebrates 95 Years as the ‘World’s Most Famous Building’30.4.2026 23:42:00 EEST | Press release
The Empire State Building (ESB), the “World’s Most Famous Building,” will celebrate its 95th anniversary on May 1, 2026, with new offers at the Empire State Building Observation Deck, a special birthday tower lighting display, and a slate of celebrations to honor its legacy and future. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260430693323/en/ The Empire State Building Celebrates 95 Years as the ‘World’s Most Famous Building’ “The Empire State Building celebrates its 95th anniversary, still the ‘World’s Most Famous Building,’ a modernized, sustainability leader as technologically advanced today as the day she was completed, and the winner of #1 Top Attraction in the United States in Tripadvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Awards for 2026,” said Anthony E. Malkin, chairman and CEO of Empire State Realty Trust. Anniversary Offerings and Experiences To mark its 95th anniversary, the Empire State Building will debut new experiences
MRM Health’s Lead Candidate MH002 Granted Fast Track Designation by U.S. FDA for the Treatment of Mild-to-Moderate Ulcerative Colitis30.4.2026 23:17:00 EEST | Press release
MRM Health, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for immune-mediated diseases, which unlock the power of the microbiome to restore immune balance, today announced that MH002, the Company’s lead rationally designed Live Biotherapeutic Product (LBP) candidate, has been granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis (UC). MH002 today is the most advanced LBP targeting inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-specific mechanisms and is composed of a rationally designed microbial consortium of six well-characterized commensal strains. The FDA’s Fast Track is a process designed to facilitate the development and expedite the review of drugs to treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need. The purpose is to get important drugs to patients earlier. Fast Track designation enables frequent communication with the FDA to discuss the drug's development plan and ensure collection o
Rimini Street Announces Fiscal First Quarter 2026 Financial and Operating Results30.4.2026 23:01:00 EEST | Press release
Rimini Street, Inc., (Nasdaq: RMNI), a global provider of end-to-end enterprise software support, managed services and Agentic AI ERP innovation solutions, and the leading third-party support provider for Oracle, SAP and VMware software, today announced results for the fiscal first quarter ended March 31, 2026. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260430598629/en/ Rimini Street Announces Fiscal First Quarter 2026 Financial and Operating Results “Our first quarter results reflect continued growth and accelerating momentum in our core Rimini Support™ business as organizations turn to the proven Rimini Smart Path™ to execute their global ERP and operational transaction processes faster, better and cheaper with more agility and speed to value – all within existing budgets,” said Seth Ravin, president and CEO, Rimini Street. “We help organizations avoid unnecessary, costly and risky ERP and other enterprise software upg
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