Boehringer Ingelheim and MacroGenics to Develop Antibody Therapeutics

Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim, Germany) and MacroGenics (Rockville, MD) have entered into a global alliance to discover, develop, and commercialize antibody-based therapeutics that may span multiple therapeutic areas, including immunology, oncology, respiratory, cardiometabolic, and infectious diseases. These developmental drug candidates will be based on MacroGenics’s dual-affinity re-targeting (DART) platform and will be directed against up to 10 combinations of molecular targets.

The DART platform is a bispecific antibody technology that enables the generation of highly stable antibody-based therapeutic molecules that can simultaneously target two different antigens. DART proteins are available in both bacterial and mammalian expression systems. DARTs also have been engineered with an Fc domain, which confers them with additional properties, such as Fc receptor binding and extended half-life.

Both companies will share responsibility for discovery and certain preclinical activities. In addition, Boehringer Ingelheim will have sole responsibility for all subsequent preclinical, clinical, regulatory, commercial, and manufacturing activities for any DART-based product resulting from the collaboration.