Boehringer Ingelheim allies with f-star on antibody research

Boehringer Ingelheim is entering into a new partnership with antibody engineering company f-star to discover and develop antibody-derived therapies.

The newly-signed collaboration and license agreement will see the company nominate up to seven clinical targets, which will be investigated using f-star's Modular Antibody Technology.

Boehringer Ingelheim will provide f-star with a technology access fee, research funding and other milestone-based payments, while it will gain the rights to develop and commercialise the treatments as therapeutic products.

Alternatively, the targets may also be used by Boehringer Ingelheim as modules for the generation of bispecific mAb2 products.

Dr Kevin FitzGerald, chief executive officer of f-star, said: "We are very pleased to have completed this agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim and are very excited by the prospect of jointly delivering novel therapeutic proteins to patients with poorly treated illnesses."

Last week, Boehringer Ingelheim announced plans to collaborate with Fresenius Kabi to develop a new manufacturing method for HESylated pharmaceuticals.