BioMed X and Boehringer Ingelheim to investigate early intervention in psychiatric diseases
Heidelberg, Germany, January 17th, 2019 – BioMed X announced a new crowdsourcing project within its framework collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim. BioMed X and Boehringer Ingelheim started their partnership in 2014 and since then have initiated three preclinical research projects in the fields of respiratory diseases, neuroscience and immunology. The new project will focus on new concepts and approaches for early intervention of psychiatric diseases, one of the key focus areas of Boehringer Ingelheim.
Adolescence is a critical developmental phase in the emergence of psychiatric diseases. Therapeutic pharmacological intervention during this period of change in brain structure and function could normalize brain maturation and improve the disease trajectory. Boehringer Ingelheim is seeking proposals that provide innovative ideas for exploring the complex neurobiology of early childhood to reveal new opportunities to prevent the development of psychiatric pathologies. Successful proposals should incorporate truly novel mechanisms as well as in-vivo and in-vitro models to identify and validate potential new targets for early intervention in the development of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. Proposals building on very original ideas supported by first experimental findings are particularly encouraged.
Dr. Christian Tidona, Managing Director of BioMed X: “We are honored to launch another call for applications in the field of neurosciences with our partner Boehringer Ingelheim as this confirms the capabilities of our business model at the interface between academia and industry.” BioMed X is the only institution combining worldwide crowdsourcing for research talents with local incubation at a well-established research center. Embedded within the life science campus of the University of Heidelberg with renowned research institutions such as the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), BioMed X offers an attractive environment for young scientists to work on their innovative project and contribute to new treatment options for patients in need.
About BioMed X Innovation Center
The BioMed X Innovation Center is an exciting collaboration model at the interface between academia and industry. At the center, distinguished early career scientists recruited from all over the world jointly work on novel pre-clinical research projects in the fields of oncology, immunology, neuroscience, respiratory and diagnostics. These interdisciplinary project teams conduct groundbreaking biomedical research in an open innovation lab facility at the Technology Park on the campus of the University of Heidelberg, Germany. They are working under the guidance of experienced mentors from academia and industry while expanding their scientific network and receiving entrepreneurship and leadership training. Each team is typically sponsored by a corporate pharma partner of BioMed X. After a fully funded project term, successful projects are internalized into the development pipeline of the respective pharma partner. BioMed X collaborates with pharma companies such as AbbVie, Boehringer Ingelheim, Janssen, Merck and Roche.