The cornerstone of the deal is SIM0709, which Simcere designed to target both TL1A and IL-23, crucial players in facilitating inflammation. Boehringer Ingelheim will advance the asset for inflammatory bowel diseases.
Following in the footsteps of its pharma peers, Boehringer Ingelheim took a trip to China in search of new assets—and picked up an investigational bispecific antibody from Shanghai-based Simcere Pharmaceutical for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases.
The companies did not provide a specific financial breakdown of the deal in their Tuesday release, revealing only that Boehringer could be on the hook for up to €1.058 billion—or approximately $1.26 billion—in total. This sum covers an upfront commitment plus success-based development, regulatory and commercial milestones.
At the heart of the agreement is SIM0709, a bispecific antibody that can bind TL1A and IL-23, both of which play key roles in promoting inflammation. With its mechanism of action, SIM0709 blocks “two core pathways that drive the onset and progression of IBD [inflammatory bowel disease],” according to the companies’ news release.
SIM0709 is currently in pre-clinical development. Under Tuesday’s partnership, Boehringer will have the right to advance the drug worldwide, outside the Greater China region. Simcere will be entitled to royalties on net-sales of SIM0709 outside of China.
“In IBD, too many patients continue to progress and experience severe complications despite currently available anti-inflammatory therapies,” Carine Boustany, global head of Immunology and Respiratory Diseases at Boehringer, said in a statement, adding that SIM0709 is a “potential life changing option” for patients with IBD.
Investing in a molecule still in early-stage development is part of Boehringer’s business development philosophy. “We don’t make the same level of headlines because we’re not buying things that are in late-stage development,” Brian Hilberdink, president of U.S. Human Pharma, told BioSpace in an interview on the sidelines of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference earlier this month. “When you think about Pfizer and Novo going to battle over that obesity portfolio, that’s not the game that Boehringer wants to play.”
Boehringer has steadily put business development dollars into its pipeline over the last year or so. In early January last year, for instance, the pharma inked two antibody-drug conjugate deals: one with Synaffix for up to $1.3 billion and another with Oxford BioTherapeutics, with which Boehringer exercised an option to advance a fourth cancer target.
In April that year, Boehringer put up to $357 million on the line to partner with Cue Biopharma, gaining access to an experimental B cell depleter that the pharma will test for autoimmune conditions. Boehringer followed this up with a $1 billion bet in July with U.K.-based Re-Vana Therapeutics, focused on developing extended-release therapies for eye diseases.
Boehringer turned to Asia after that, linking up with South Korea’s AimedBio in a deal focused on an antibody-drug conjugate—though it remains unclear what the partners will develop it for. The pharma is paying up to $991 million for the asset.
