Boehringer Ingelheim and Gubra have formed a collaboration and license agreement for the development of novel peptide compounds to treat obesity. The collaboration will bring together Gubra’s expertise in the design, synthesis, characterization and in in vivo testing of therapeutic peptides with Boehringer Ingelheim’s expertise in the development of innovative medicines for patients with cardiometabolic disease. It further expands and complements Boehringer Ingelheim’s research and development portfolio in cardiometabolic diseases, one of the company’s core focus areas.

The joint research and development program between Boehringer Ingelheim and Gubra aims to identify novel peptidic compounds, which are able to regulate food intake. It complements other ongoing Boehringer Ingelheim research and development programs, including the dual acting glucagon/GLP-1 agonist and the long-acting amylin analog development programs conducted in collaboration with Zealand Pharma A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark.

“We look forward to working with Gubra to bring breakthrough treatments for obesity,” said Clive Wood, corporate senior vice president discovery research, Boehringer Ingelheim. “It underscores our holistic, patient centric research strategy in metabolic diseases, which addresses not only obesity but also diabetes and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis as well as complications like diabetic nephropathy and diabetic retinopathy.”

Henrik Blou, chief executive officer, Gubra ApS, said, “We are extremely pleased to enter this collaboration and license agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim, which is yet another proof of the quality of our longstanding work in the metabolic space. It is truly a pleasure to be able to work with Boehringer Ingelheim on this important project and it enables us to utilize our very broad range of research, discovery and development capabilities for the benefit of the large number of patients suffering from this condition.”