BioMed X reaches milestone in respiratory disease research collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim

BioMed X announced today the successful completion of their first joint research project with Boehringer Ingelheim in the fields of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). BioMed X received a milestone payment and the results of the project were transferred to Boehringer Ingelheim.

During the four-year project term at BioMed X, the research team led by Dr. Renata Jurkowska systematically explored epigenetic regulators in different cell types of the human lung as a potential new target class for the treatment of chronic and disabling lung diseases such as COPD and IPF. By comparing epigenetic and transcriptomic profiles from patients in different disease stages with healthy ex-smokers on the level of individual cell types, the team successfully identified a set of new potentially disease-modifying drug targets in lung fibroblasts and alveolar type II (ATII) cells. Moving forward Boehringer Ingelheim will further validate the new target candidates.

“We are very excited about this first joint success with Boehringer Ingelheim,” says Dr. Christian Tidona, founder and Managing Director of BioMed X. “This clearly shows how a BioMed X project can be an efficient entry point for big pharma into new areas of research such as epigenetics.”

The project was launched in 2015 as a global call for research proposals using BioMed X’s proprietary crowdsourcing platform. Since then, Boehringer Ingelheim has started three more research projects at BioMed X, two in psychiatric diseases and one in immunology.