Boehringer Ingelheim and BioMed X collaborate to discover new epigenetic regulators of COPD
Heidelberg, Germany, January 5, 2015 – BioMed X announced today that they have entered into a collaboration agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim to establish a research group focusing on the identification of novel therapeutic concepts for treating patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Outstanding early career scientists from leading academic institutions world-wide are invited to submit original project proposals in the field of epigenetics and COPD. Boehringer Ingelheim and BioMed X will jointly select the best ideas and life science talents to form a new research group within BioMed X’s open innovation lab in Heidelberg. BioMed X has developed a unique innovation model offering a project plan competition, an attractive funding package, entrepreneurial education and guidance by experienced mentors from academia and Boehringer Ingelheim. BioMed X’s open innovation lab is part of the vibrant life science campus of the University of Heidelberg which provides an inspiring, interdisciplinary environment for project teams. The unique supportive setting of BioMed X provides an exciting opportunity for the winners of the project plan competition to transform state-of-the-art epigenetic science into treatment opportunities for COPD patients.
BioMed X will be responsible for recruitment of the new research group, the operation of the innovation center facility, providing entrepreneurial education and enabling access to the Heidelberg scientific community and research facilities. “We welcome Boehringer Ingelheim as additional pharmaceutical partner to our Innovation Center”, said Christian Tidona, founder and Managing Director of BioMed X. “This is a major milestone in our endeavor to bridge the translational gap between academia and the pharmaceutical industry.”
Further details of the agreement and financial terms are not disclosed.
About Epigenetic Regulators in COPD
Emerging evidence indicates that epigenetic regulators are key drivers of COPD pathophysiology and that therapeutic modulation of epigenetic readers, writers and erasers or non-coding RNAs have the potential to control inflammation, tissue destruction or remodeling and to halt the underlying disease progression in patients with COPD. Research areas of specific interest include the prevention of tissue destruction and emphysema development, reversal of subepithelial and smooth muscle remodeling, repair and regeneration of the airway epithelial barrier, control and resolution of inflammation, and reversal of small airway fibrosis.
About BioMed X Innovation Center
The BioMed X Innovation Center constitutes a novel way of collaboration at the interface between academia and industry. At this center, distinguished early career scientists recruited from all over the world are working jointly on novel pre-clinical research projects in the fields of biomedicine, molecular biology, cell biology and bioinformatics. These interdisciplinary project teams are conducting groundbreaking biomedical research in an open innovation lab facility on the campus of the University of Heidelberg, under the guidance of experienced mentors from academia and industry while expanding their scientific network and receiving an intensive entrepreneurship and leadership training. Each team is typically sponsored by a corporate pharma or biotech partner of BioMed X. After a fully funded project term of 2-4 years, successful projects are either internalized into the development pipeline of the respective pharma or biotech sponsor or spun off into an independent startup company.
For more information please visit www.bio.mx.