Boehringer Ingelheim to Acquire Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen to Strengthen its Next Generation Cancer Immunology Program
9.12.2020 12:00:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release
Boehringer Ingelheim today announced the execution of the agreement on the acquisition of Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen. The acquisition will enable Boehringer Ingelheim to further expand and accelerate its comprehensive program for the development of ATMP-based immuno-oncology therapies including the Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV) with modified glycoprotein (GP) platform and cancer vaccines platforms. Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen has outstanding experience in process development, manufacturing and analytical characterization in virology besides expertise in microbiology and cell culture. Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen has already worked in close collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim on viral-based therapy development since 2015.
“The acquisition of Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen is strengthening our promising pipeline with diverse potential first-in-class cancer immunology and cancer cell directed therapies for patients with hard-to-treat cancer,” said Dr. Michel Pairet, member of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Board of Managing Directors with responsibility for the company’s Innovation Unit. “The trusting and highly effective collaboration between our scientists and the Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen team has already contributed significantly to our progress in viral-based cancer therapies. We will welcome the Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen team and look forward to jointly advancing our program in this area.”
Boehringer Ingelheim is taking cancer on by strengthening its position in cancer immunology, with a focus on cancer vaccines, oncolytic viruses, T-cell engagers, stromal modulators and myeloid cell modulators by combining its world-class, in-house research and development with that of highly innovative external companies. The addition of Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen’s site will enable Boehringer Ingelheim to further strengthen its oncolytic virus and cancer vaccine development capabilities and capacities by establishing an end-to-end fully integrated center of excellence for virus development and clinical manufacturing. It will add to a series of strategic acquisitions and collaborations over the past years, including the acquisition of ViraTherapeutics and AMAL Therapeutics, which are contributing assets that will be further developed at Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen’s site.
Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen is a privately-held company founded in 1971. It is headquartered in Ochsenhausen, Germany, close to Boehringer Ingelheim’s Biberach R&D site. As a center of excellence in virology, Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen has a long track record in GLP and GMP certified biosafety testing. In recent years Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen established its GMP-virus manufacturing facility. With around 130 highly qualified and specialized employees, the company has built considerable expertise in process development, manufacturing and analytical characterization of viral therapeutics and oncolytic viral therapeutics. Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen will be integrated with all employees as a new unit into Boehringer Ingelheim’s Development organization and continue to operate at its Ochsenhausen site. A future expansion is planned.
“Following our successful strategic partnership, we are really excited to join forces with Boehringer Ingelheim,” said Dr. Ingrid Rapp, CEO at Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen. “Boehringer Ingelheim is a truly global pharmaceutical company with excellent R&D capacities. We look forward to taking our next development step in oncology as part of this outstanding team.”
The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. The transaction is subject to the approval of the competition authorities in Germany. Closing will follow thereafter.
Please click on the following link for ‘Notes to Editors’:
http://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/agreement-acquire-labor-dr-merk
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/20201209005383/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
press@boehringer-ingelheim.com
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
Samos Energy Acquisition Corporation Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering10.7.2026 16:32:00 EEST | Press release
Samos Energy Acquisition Corporation (the “Company”) announced today the pricing of its initial public offering (“IPO”) of 20,000,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit. The units will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) and trade under the ticker symbol “SAMO.U” beginning on July 10, 2026. Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant, with each whole warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one of the Company’s Class A ordinary shares at an exercise price of $11.50 per share. Once the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, the Class A ordinary shares and warrants are expected to be listed on the NYSE under the symbols “SAMO” and “SAMO.WS,” respectively. Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. is acting as the sole book running manager for the proposed offering. The Company has granted the underwriter a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 3,000,000 units at the IPO price. The public offering is being made
Onera hPSG ® Wins Prestigious Red Dot Product Design Award10.7.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Onera Health, a leader in transforming sleep medicine, announces that its innovative product, Onera hPSG®, has been honoured with the prestigious Red Dot Product Design Award for 2026. This international recognition celebrates exceptional design quality and underscores Onera Health's commitment to excellence, creativity, and patient-centric innovation. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260710266668/en/ Onera Health's patch-based home polysomnography solution, Onera hPSG®, wins Prestigious Red Dot Product Design Award 2026. The Red Dot Award, one of the most sought-after seals of quality for good design, attracted thousands of entries from around the globe. Onera hPSG® stood out for outstanding functionality, striking aesthetics, and thoughtful user experience. The expert jury praised the product for translating complex sleep diagnostics into a wearable, easy-to-use system that enables low-threshold application.
teamLab Biovortex Kyoto Welcomes Over 1 Million Visitors within 9 Months of Opening10.7.2026 10:00:00 EEST | Press release
teamLab Biovortex Kyoto has welcomed over 1 million visitors as of July 6, 2026, 9 months after its grand opening. (*1) These visitors arrived from more than 150 countries and regions. International visitors account for approximately 42% of the total. Many of these international visitors travel from distant countries and regions, including the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Approximately 30% of these international visitors purchase their tickets at least 30 days in advance. teamLab Biovortex Kyoto is teamLab's largest museum in Japan, with an average visitor stay of over two and a half hours. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260709913938/en/ teamLab Biovortex Kyoto Welcomes Over 1 Million Visitors within 9 Months of Opening *1 According to ticket purchase data from the official teamLab Biovortex Kyoto website (survey period: October 7, 2025 – July 6, 2026) Visitors Comment (M
Robbyant Launches LingBot-VA 2.0 Built Natively for Embodied AI and Physical World Control10.7.2026 09:48:00 EEST | Press release
Robbyant, an embodied AI company within Ant Group, today announced the release of LingBot-VA 2.0, the industry’s first embodied-native video-action world model. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260709654440/en/ A robot powered by LingBot-VA 2.0 engages in a real-time tabletop air hockey match with a human This release marks a key transition in robotics foundation models, shifting from repurposing digital world models to designing them natively for the physical world. Instead of relying on fine-tuned digital content generation models, LingBot-VA 2.0 is built from scratch to meet the original demands of dynamic modeling, causal prediction, and real-time execution in physical environments. Integrating world models with embodied AI has been one of the major focuses of the AI industry. However, most mainstream approaches rely on video generation models designed for digital content, which are then fine-tuned for robo
SureWerx Appoints Erik Pertot as VP/GM SureWerx EMEA10.7.2026 09:00:00 EEST | Press release
SureWerx, a leading global manufacturer of personal protective equipment, safety products, tools and equipment solutions, today announced the appointment of Erik Pertot as VP/GM SureWerx EMEA. Pertot will report directly to CEO Scott Dowell and will lead growth, manufacturing and M&A activities in Europe across the company’s global portfolio. Erik joins SureWerx with more than 20 years of international leadership experience across engineering, quality, marketing, sales, international supply chain, product management, and general management. He brings deep expertise in the personal protective equipment industry, with a track record of leading complex, compliance-critical programs, managing business transitions, and driving growth across multinational environments. Most recently, Pertot served as Global General Manager for Footwear and Fall Protection at Protective Industrial Products (PIP), where he also held senior portfolio management leadership roles. Prior to that, he held a series
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