Boehringer Ingelheim has returned to Kyowa Kirin for a 640 million euro ($743 million) deal for a preclinical program the German pharma hopes will offer a new autoimmune disease option.
Boehringer didn’t give away too much in its Oct. 30 release. There’s no hint at the small molecule’s modality or what conditions it will be tested against first beyond a reference to inflammatory conditions and hopes of the drug becoming a “first-in-class … treatment of autoimmune diseases.”
The financial details also remain vague. The deal does include an upfront payment, but Boehringer has only disclosed that this sum, combined with development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, could reach 640 million euros.
Carine Boustany, U.S. innovation unit site head and global head of immunology and respiratory diseases at Boehringer, put this morning’s deal in the context of the German drugmaker’s “unwavering commitment to delivering life-changing therapies for patients with autoimmune diseases.”
“This agreement constitutes an important step toward delivering breakthrough treatments for patients,” Boustany added.
Kyowa Chief Medical Officer Takeyoshi Yamashita, Ph.D., described the molecule at the center of today’s deal as holding “tremendous potential.”
“Leveraging Boehringer Ingelheim’s renowned expertise in inflammatory diseases, we are confident that this innovation will be developed efficiently and delivered to the patients who need it most,” Yamashita added.
Boehringer beefed up its autoimmune research earlier this year via a $12 million upfront collaboration with Cue Biopharma relating to a B-cell depletion therapy for autoimmune diseases.
The pharma is no stranger to Kyowa Kirin, either. The two companies signed a 410 million euro ($449 million) pact to work on fibro-inflammatory diseases last year in another deal where the details were left vague.