Elan and Boehringer Ingelheim have entered into a global technical development and manufacturing agreement for antibody-based therapeutics. BI will perform technical development, clinical manufacturing and all related regulatory filing support services for antibodies discovered by Elan. Elan will lead the discovery science, preclinical activities, clinical development and commercialization of such antibodies.

Dr Johannes Roebers, senior vice president and head of Biologic Strategy, Planning and Operations at Elan, said, “We are excited to collaborate with Boehringer Ingelheim, a highly regarded and world-class leader in biological technical development and manufacturing. The agreement enables Elan to focus resources on discovery and the clinical progression of our science while leveraging BI’s process development and production capabilities.”

Simon Sturge, corporate senior vice president of the Biopharmaceuticals Division at BI, said, “The combination of Elan’s successful track record in the discovery and clinical development of antibody-based therapeutics with our proven expertise in technical development and manufacturing and in particular our BI HEX platform, will be an optimal fit. This is a first step in our new strategy engaging our technology platforms at a very early stage in product development. We look forward to working with the team at Elan.”

Dr Dale Schenk, executive vice president and chief scientific officer at Elan, added, “This collaboration with BI is highly compelling as it leverages our respective capabilities and provides the opportunity to create significant value for Elan. This business model will enable us to rapidly accelerate the advancement of our next generation antibody programs. These programs are broad in scope and are innovative across technology, targets and possible disease application.”