Boehringer Ingelheim and Cue Biopharma have teamed up to develop and commercialise CUE-501, a next-generation treatment for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
The partnership aims to leverage Cue Biopharma’s unique approach to B-cell depletion therapy, enhancing benefits and safety compared to existing treatments targeting B cells.
Under the terms of the collaboration, Cue Biopharma will receive an up-front payment of $12m, along with research support payments, and royalty payments on net sales.
It is also eligible for up to $345m in research, development, and commercial milestone payments, including two preclinical development milestones.
Boehringer Ingelheim immunology and respiratory diseases research global head and US research site head Carine Boustany said: “This collaboration represents a strategic expansion of Boehringer’s pipeline portfolio in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
“By leveraging Cue Biopharma’s proprietary T-cell engager platform, our goal is to deliver a more effective treatment option to patients earlier in their disease journey.”
Cue Biopharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, is focused on creating therapeutic biologics that selectively engage and modulate disease-specific T cells.
Its preclinical candidate CUE-501 binds to a B-cell-specific membrane protein while engaging virus-specific memory killer T cells.
It allows for targeted B cell depletion to reduce autoimmune and inflammatory responses.
The agreement outlines a multi-year collaboration where Cue Biopharma’s technology will be used to advance the development of CUE-501.
The partnership includes the possibility of expanding research into various B-cell targeting bispecifics for autoimmune diseases, broadening the scope of potential treatments.
Cue Biopharma CEO Daniel Passeri said: “We are very pleased to embark on this collaboration and license agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim.
“This partnership with Boehringer enables further development of the candidate molecule and has the potential to further validate our Immuno-STAT platform, for what we believe to represent a breakthrough, novel approach to selectively redirect and harness potent anti-viral memory T cells against targeted, pathologic cells.”
Recently, Boehringer Ingelheim, through its subsidiary NBE Therapeutics, inaugurated a new antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) research and development facility in Basel, Switzerland.
