Zai Lab of Shanghai and Boehringer Ingelheim signed a strategic cooperation agreement under which BI will provide process optimization and manufacturing services in its Shanghai facility for a new monoclonal antibody being developed by Zai. In September 2015, Zai in-licensed the first-in-class mAb, which targets autoimmune diseases, from UCB of Belgium. At that time, Zai said it had completed preclinical development and was ready to file an Investigational New Drug request. The initial indications are expected to be graft-versus-host disease and inflammatory bowel disease.
