Hamburg-based private platform company, Topas Therapeutics, has signed a multi-year agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim to collaborate in the field of antigen-specific tolerance induction.
Sign agreement
Initially the companies will focus on virus-based delivery vectors — which are emerging as a promising new approach to the treatment of cancer, with applications such as oncolytic viruses and also delivery vectors for cancer vaccines.
However, with virus-based therapies there is the possibility that the body may develop an unwanted immune reaction, which means that repeated administration of the therapeutic could be limited/stopped.
Through this collaboration, Topas’ tolerizing nanoparticle technology will focus on prevention of this vector-neutralising response.
Under the terms of the agreement, Topas will be responsible for the design, application and production of its proprietary tolerizing particles while Boehringer Ingelheim will contribute its antigen know-how and its pharmacology expertise to the collaboration to develop tolerance-generating adjuvant candidates.
Additionally, Boehringer Ingelheim has an option to license several pre-clinical development candidates produced under the collaboration for development and commercialisation.
“We are proud to be working with Boehringer Ingelheim to generate novel product candidates using our proprietary technology,” said Timm Jessen, CEO of Topas Therapeutics. “This collaboration supports the value and broad applicability of our tolerance induction approach, now comprising the increasingly significant field of novel therapeutics and their precise delivery. The high level of interest we have seen in our technology, including this key collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim, supports the growing recognition of the importance of tolerance induction in drug development, and we believe will fuel Topas’ future commercial potential.”
Financial details were not disclosed.