바이오스펙테이터

바이오스펙테이터 Sungmin Kim 기자

Boehringer Ingelheim and Bridge Biotherapeutics announced on July, 18th, 2019, that they are entering into a new collaboration and license agreement with the goal of developing Bridge Biotherapeutics’s autotaxin inhibitor BBT-877 for patients with fibrosing interstitial lung diseases, including IPF. BBT-877 is currently in Phase I clinical studies and is anticipated to enter Phase II testing within the next 12 months.

Bridge Biotherapeutics will receive upfront and near term payments of EUR 45 million and is eligible to receive up to more than EUR 1.1billion in potential payments based upon the successful achievement of specified development, regulatory, and commercial milestones and staggered, up to double digit royalties.

Both companies will initially focus on developing the compound for the treatment of IPF, an area of high-unmet medical need and one of the key focus areas of Boehringer Ingelheim. Boehringer Ingelheim has developed OFEV® (nintedanib), an antifibrotic drug shown to slow disease progression by reducing lung function decline and currently approved for the treatment of IPF in more than 70 countries around the world including the US, the EU and Japan.

IPF is a rare, debilitating and fatal lung disease affecting approximately three million people worldwide. It causes progressive scarring of the lungs, resulting in continual and irreversible deterioration in lung function and breathing difficulties. BBT-877 inhibits autotaxin, an enzyme mediating a key pro-fibrotic event in multiple cell types. It has shown a promising safety and efficacy profile in pre-clinical models for fibrosing interstitial lung diseases and potential for combination with the current standard of care.

Michel Pairet, member of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Board of Managing Directors with responsibility for the company’s Innovation Unit said, “We look forward to working with the team at BIA to develop a new treatment option for patients with IPF. This new collaboration complements our growing pipeline in fibrosing interstitial lung diseases and is a sign of our determination to bring the next generation of treatment options to these patients” 

“Bridge Biotherapeutics is pleased to partner with Boehringer Ingelheim, a recognized leader in IPF. The expertise of Boehringer Ingelheim will ensure that our novel therapeutic candidate can be developed to potentially address unmet medical needs of IPF patients worldwide,” said James Lee, CEO of BIA.