Boehringer Ingelheim and Enara Bio Partner on Cancer Immunotherapies

On Jan. 12, 2021, Boehringer Ingelheim and Enara Bio, a science-led company targeting the T-cell/cancer-cell interface for the development of cancer immunotherapies, announced that they have entered into a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement in which they will research and develop novel targeted cancer immunotherapies. The collaboration will leverage Enara Bio’s Dark Antigen discovery platform.

Under the agreement, Boehringer Ingelheim has the option to license Dark Antigens discovered and validated by Enara Bio and will be responsible for all non-clinical and clinical development. Boehringer Ingelheim will also be responsible for the commercialization of associated cancer immunotherapies, including therapeutic vaccines and T-cell redirecting biologics. Meanwhile, Enara Bio will retain rights to use any discovered antigens in cell therapy-based products and is eligible to receive an upfront payment, together with research/preclinical milestones and licensing fees for each tumor type that is explored. Enara Bio is also eligible to receive more than EUR 876 million (US$1.06 billion) in clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, in addition to royalties on future product sales.

Under the collaboration, Boehringer Ingelheim will combine its approach to developing cancer therapeutics with Enara Bio’s expertise in identifying cancer antigens, with the aim being to provide potential new therapies for difficult-to-treat lung and gastrointestinal cancers.

Dark Antigens represent a new class of cancer-associated antigens. These antigens are derived from genomic dark matter, or the portion of the human genome that is normally not expressed as protein, the companies explained in a press release. Dark Antigen-encoding sequences, which are usually silenced in healthy cells but are activated and presented on tumor cells, are associated with specific cancer types. In addition, these sequences are shared across patients, according to the companies. Because Dark Antigens are not typically visible to the immune system, they represent a large potential repertoire of novel antigens that can be developed as targets for new immunotherapies, the companies stated in the press release.

Through the collaboration, Enara Bio’s proprietary Dark Antigen Platform Technology (EDAPT) will be used to discover and validate novel Dark Antigens in up to three tumor types in the lung and gastrointestinal cancer space. The discovery of shared antigens could lead to the development of vaccines that can have an impact on a broader group of cancer patients.

“We are excited to partner with Enara Bio as part of our mission to bring transformative new treatments to cancer patients,” said Jonathon Sedgwick, PhD, senior vice-president and global head, Cancer Immunology & Immune Modulation Research, Boehringer Ingelheim, in the press release. “We are advancing a unique pipeline of cancer cell-directed agents, immuno-oncology therapies, and intelligent combination approaches to help combat cancer. Enara Bio’s unique discovery platform offers a novel and highly differentiated approach that will allow us to look beyond the known proteome to identify and characterize Dark Antigens to support the development of T-[c]ell [r]eceptor (TCR)-directed immunotherapies and therapeutic vaccines. We believe this is a highly innovative and promising approach to the development of the next wave of cancer immunotherapies.”

“We are extremely pleased to enter this strategic licensing agreement, our first major deal leveraging our pioneering Dark Antigen discovery and validation capabilities,” added Kevin Pojasek, president and CEO of Enara Bio, in the press release. “Boehringer Ingelheim is an innovation-led company dedicated to producing breakthrough treatments with a significant focus on cancer. We are excited to build this relationship and are encouraged that Boehringer Ingelheim shares our view of the potential of Dark Antigens to be a source of important and unconventional targets for novel cancer immunotherapies. This agreement provides strong validation for our science and our approach to exploiting the cancer-associated antigenic repertoire derived from genomic dark matter and we look forward to a productive collaboration.”

Source: Boehringer Ingelheim