Boehringer Ingelheim and Epizyme launch $300M precision oncology program

In a worldwide collaboration worth up to $300 million or more, Boehringer Ingelheim is expanding its precision oncology programs by tapping Epizyme for research into two previously unaddressed regulators of genes linked to cancer.

Epizyme will receive $15 million upfront, plus $5 million in research funding in 2019. The 2011 Fierce 15 winner is also eligible for more than $280 million in future milestone payments and plans to focus on lung and other solid tumors in patients with defined mutations that lack treatments.

The collaboration’s main targets are enzymes within the helicase and histone acetyltransferase families, which have been linked to the development of cancer when dysregulated.

Boehringer Ingelheim and Epizyme will jointly develop a helicase research program—with Epizyme funding a portion of the global development costs and retaining a share of U.S. profits, plus royalties—and will share domestic commercialization responsibilities, while Boehringer will take on international commercialization.

The two companies will also share research responsibilities for the HAT program, with Boehringer being responsible for worldwide development and commercialization.

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“This partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim to develop treatments for two novel epigenetic targets, which have been historically viewed as undruggable, further validates the promise of epigenetics for oncology and our pioneering leadership in this field,” Epizyme President and CEO Robert Bazemore said in a statement.

The companies estimated that more than half of cancers can stem from functional errors in the epigenome, which regulates gene expression and tissue differentiation. Alterations in specific components can be used as biomarkers to identify the patients most likely to benefit from the therapy, they said.

The helicase gene family includes more than 100 members, coding for ATP-dependent enzymes that unwind and remodel the nucleic acids composing DNA and RNA. HATs, meanwhile, include 18 enzymes that add acetyl groups to proteins, such as histones that provide structural support to chromosomes, affecting how they interact with DNA.

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In September, Boehringer moved to gain ground in the immunotherapy sphere, buying out oncolytic virus startup ViraTherapeutics, based on the preclinical data from its lead program.