Boehringer Ingelheim and CDR-Life have entered into a global licensing agreement for CDR111, a trispecific T-cell engager developed by CDR-Life for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.
CDR111 is an antibody-based M-gager designed to selectively target and deplete B cells, whose dysregulation can play a central role in autoimmune and inflammatory disorders such as lupus, multiple sclerosis and certain forms of arthritis. According to the partners, CDR111 has the potential to be effective across multiple indications through its immune system reset mechanism of action.
Christian Leisner, Chief Executive Officer of CDR-Life, said: “Having already demonstrated encouraging clinical progress together in geographic atrophy (GA), this new agreement further validates the versatility of our T-cell engager technology, and we are excited to see Boehringer advance CDR111 toward the clinic.”
The new licensing deal builds on a previous collaboration between the two companies, which centred on an investigational antibody fragment. Boehringer has continued to develop that molecule using CDR-Life’s licensed technology, and it is currently being evaluated in the VERDANT phase 2 trial in patients with GA.
Under the terms of the latest agreement, CDR-Life could receive up to up to $570m in total payments. This includes approximately $48m in upfront and near-term payments, plus tiered royalties on future sales.
“We are excited to expand upon our work with CDR-Life and apply their trispecific M-gager approach to autoimmune and inflammatory diseases with high unmet need, further broadening our differentiated pipeline,” said Carine Boustany, US Innovation Unit Site Head and Global Head of Immunology and Respiratory Diseases at Boehringer Ingelheim.
“We see strong potential for CDR111 to demonstrate a deep and durable immune reset that may deliver transformative options for patients living with serious autoimmune disease.”