Business Wire

BOEHRINGER-INGELHEIM

12.1.2021 10:02:30 CET | Business Wire | Press release

Share
Boehringer Ingelheim and Enara Bio Enter Strategic Collaboration and Licensing Agreement to Discover Novel Shared Antigens for Cancer Immunotherapies

Boehringer Ingelheim and Enara Bio, today announced that they have entered into a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement to research and develop novel targeted cancer immunotherapies, leveraging Enara Bio’s Dark Antigen™ discovery platform. This new collaboration combines Boehringer Ingelheim’s approach to tackle cancer through pairing leading science with innovative immune-oncology platforms, such as oncolytic viruses and cancer vaccines, with Enara Bio’s expertise in cancer antigen identification. The aim is to provide potential new therapies for patients with difficult to treat lung and gastrointestinal cancers.

“We are excited to partner with Enara Bio as part of our mission to bring transformative new treatments to cancer patients,” said Jonathon Sedgwick, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Global Head, Cancer Immunology & Immune Modulation Research, Boehringer Ingelheim. “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-Cell Receptor (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.”

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 be readily utilized to help a broader group of cancer patients.

Dark Antigens represent a new class of cancer-associated antigens that derive from the genomic dark matter, or the portion of the human genome that is normally not expressed as protein. Dark Antigen-encoding sequences are usually silenced in healthy cells but are activated and presented on tumor cells. They are associated with specific cancer types and, importantly, are shared across patients. Since typically not visible to the immune system, they represent a large potential repertoire of novel antigens that can be developed as targets for new immunotherapies.

“We are extremely pleased to enter this strategic licensing agreement, our first major deal leveraging our pioneering Dark Antigen discovery and validation capabilities,” said Kevin Pojasek, President and CEO of Enara Bio. “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.”

This collaboration with Enara Bio is the latest of several strategic partnerships and acquisitions for Boehringer Ingelheim to build its cancer vaccine platform and provides important validation for Enara Bio’s Dark Antigen platform. The past acquisitions of ViraTherapeutics and AMAL Therapeutics’ vaccine modalities coupled with Enara Bio’s capabilities position Boehringer Ingelheim to develop sophisticated virus and vaccine modalities for its prime/boost vaccine platform.

Under the agreement, Boehringer Ingelheim has the option to license Dark Antigens discovered and validated by Enara Bio. Boehringer Ingelheim will also be responsible for all non-clinical and clinical development, as well as commercialization of associated cancer immunotherapies, including therapeutic vaccines and T-cell redirecting biologics. Enara Bio retains rights to use any discovered antigens for use in cell therapy-based products.

Enara Bio 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 in clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, in addition to royalties on future product sales.

Please click on the following link for ‘Notes to Editors’:
http://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/strategic-collaboration-enarabio

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire
101 California Street, 20th Floor
CA 94111 San Francisco

http://businesswire.com

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

Only 7% of Companies Achieve Full Compliance as Global Expansion Increases Legal Complexity11.5.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release

47% of general counsels say beneficial ownership rules pose the biggest risks to legal operations44% lack confidence in meeting cross-border data security requirements As businesses accelerate their global expansion in 2026, compliance fails to keep pace. In fact, only 7% of organizations report full compliance across their global entities, according to a new study by CSC, the leading provider of global business administration and compliance solutions. CSC surveyed 350 general counsel (GCs) and senior legal professionals across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific to examine how their teams navigate international expansion, regulatory pressure, and the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).¹ The findings appear in CSC’s latest report, General Counsel Barometer 2026: From Complexity to Control. Most organizations report partial compliance, with over half (53%) estimating they are 50–75% compliant, and a further 35% placing themselves between 76%–99%. This leaves just 7%

IFF Opens Vanilla Innovation Center in Madagascar11.5.2026 14:15:00 CEST | Press release

Advancing science‑led flavor innovation where vanilla is grown IFF (NYSE: IFF)—a global leader in flavors, fragrances, food ingredients, health & bioscience—today announced the opening of its Vanilla Innovation Center in Madagascar, reinforcing vanilla as a strategic and priority tonality for IFF and strengthening its ability to innovate at origin. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260508110162/en/ IFF's Vanilla Innovation Center in Madagascar “The opening of the center marks an important step in how we approach vanilla innovation,” said Adam Jańczuk, Ph.D., senior vice president, research, creation and design, Taste, IFF. “By strengthening our presence at origin, we connect science, creativity and sustainability more closely, responding to climate changes, safeguarding quality and creating value across the supply chain.” Located in Toamasina, Madagascar’s principal seaport, near vanilla growing areas and post‑h

ARIS Recognised as a Leader in Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Process Intelligence Platforms, Believes This Reinforces Its Role in Enabling Enterprise AI at Scale11.5.2026 14:00:00 CEST | Press release

ARIS, the process context foundation platform for enterprise AI deployment, today announced its recognition as a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Process Intelligence Platforms. This is the fourth consecutive year that ARIS has been recognized as a Leader in the report and the company believes it underscores a continued commitment to innovation and growth as enterprises focus on turning AI ambition into measurable business outcomes. While technology has advanced rapidly, companies are struggling to operationalise AI across complex operating models. ARIS sees this recognition by Gartner as a reflection of its strength in delivering a single unified platform for process intelligence, providing the context layer on which G2000 organisations can successfully deploy and scale agentic AI. “AI is moving from experimentation to execution – but many enterprises are finding it difficult to scale,” said Guillaume Bacuvier, CEO of ARIS. “The reason is simple: AI lacks the context it need

HistoSonics Moves to Advance Additional Histotripsy Applications Announcing FDA Submission for Kidney Tumors11.5.2026 14:00:00 CEST | Press release

HistoSonics, the developer of the Edison® Histotripsy System and novel histotripsy therapy platform, today announced it has submitted a De Novo request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking authorization to expand the use of its Edison® Histotripsy System to include the destruction of kidney (renal) tumors. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260511268688/en/ HistoSonics Edison® Histotripsy System This milestone marks a significant step forward in the company’s mission to transform the treatment of solid tumors with a completely non-invasive technology that harnesses focused ultrasound to mechanically liquefy and destroy targeted tissue, reducing the risk of many complications and side effects associated with surgery, radiation, and other common therapies. “This submission is an important milestone in expanding histotripsy beyond the liver and into the kidney, an area where patients and physicians are s

Logistics Reply Named a Visionary in 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems and Ranks #2 for Level 2 and #3 for Level 3 Operations Use Cases in Gartner® Critical Capabilities Report11.5.2026 14:00:00 CEST | Press release

Logistics Reply, the Reply Group company specializing in innovative solutions for supply chain execution, is proud to announce its recognition as a Visionary in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Warehouse Management Systems for the seventh consecutive year, as its global team of warehouse technology professionals continues to drive innovation that puts customers first. Additionally, Logistics Reply for its LEA Reply™ WMS is recognized in the 2026 Gartner® Critical Capabilities for Warehouse Management Systems report where it ranked #2 for Level 2 Warehouse Operations and #3 for Level 3 Warehouse Operations. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260511344452/en/ We believe these important recognitions underscore Logistics Reply's commitment to delivering intelligent, flexible and scalable warehouse execution solutions for enterprise customers around the world. For us, our placement in the Visionaries Quadrant reflects

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye