German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim and Danish biotech Gubra have announced a second collaboration and license agreement to develop novel poly-agonist peptides to treat obesity and associated diseases.

The agreement will combine Gubra’s skills in the design, synthesis, pharmaceutical characterization and in vivo testing of therapeutic peptides with Boehringer Ingelheim’s expertise in the research and development of innovative medicines in cardiometabolic diseases.

Boehringer will pay €240 million upfront as well as success-based development and commercialization milestones, plus royalties that will be staggered up to double digits on worldwide net sales.

The alliance builds upon a joint R&D program launched in September 2017 to identify novel peptidic compounds that are able to regulate food intake. The German company said this program had already achieved “important milestones,” but did not elaborate further.

Gubra’s CEO Henrik Blou commented: “It is important for Gubra to find strong partners for our proprietary research programs, and our first collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim has shown that the strengths of both companies are nicely complementary. Joining forces on this novel research program has the potential to take obesity treatment to the next level to the benefit of patients around the world.” 

Excessive weight and obesity are among the leading risk factors for heart and liver diseases, ischemic stroke and type 2 diabetes as well as for a number of cancers, said Gubra, noting that there are insufficient treatment options available, resulting in a high unmet medical need for safe and effective therapies that achieve significant weight loss.