Boehringer Ingelheim and 3T Biosciences have entered into a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement to discover and develop next-generation cancer therapies.
The partnership will bring together 3T Biosciences’ best-in-class 3T-TRACE (T-Cell Receptor Antigen and Cross-Reactivity Engine) discovery platform with Boehringer Ingelheim’s two-pronged research strategy combining cancer cell-directed and immune cell-targeting compounds, further strengthening the company’s pipeline.
Cancer immunotherapies have brought dramatic breakthroughs, but only for a minority of cancer patients. 3T‘s platform aims to address this challenge by identifying novel shared T-cell receptor (TCR) targets of productive immune responses and comprehensively screening TCRs and TCR mimetics for specificity and off-target cross-reactivities. The platform identifies the most prevalent and immunogenic targets in solid tumours by uniquely combining high-diversity target libraries with active machine learning. This may lead to tumour-specific, safer therapies that can be delivered at higher doses.
“At Boehringer Ingelheim, we are committed to transforming patients’ lives. Through our new partnership with 3T Biosciences, we aim at accelerating and expanding our pipeline of first-in-class T-cell based therapies for patients affected by cancer,” said Lamine Mbow, PhD, Global Head of Cancer Immunology and Immune Modulation, Boehringer Ingelheim.
“On behalf of the entire team at 3T Biosciences, we are extremely pleased to partner with Boehringer Ingelheim, a company advancing transformative cancer treatments,” said Stefan J. Scherer, MD, PhD, president and CEO of 3T Biosciences. “3T’s 3T-TRACE discovery platform has the potential to transform the treatment of cancers and beyond. By using data from patients for patients we aim to discover the best immunogenic targets for multiple tumour indications and across patient populations.”
Under the agreement, Boehringer Ingelheim will provide patient-derived TCR data to fuel 3T’s target discovery efforts to identify antigens using its 3T TRACE discovery platform. 3T will receive an upfront payment and research and development support, and is eligible for discovery, preclinical, clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestones totalling $268 million in addition to royalties on future Boehringer Ingelheim product sales. Boehringer Ingelheim is eligible to receive royalties on future product sales by 3T Biosciences arising from the agreement.
