MiNA Therapeutics Ltd.

Boehringer Ingelheim has notched some success in the metabolic-associated steatohepatitis space so far this year. Boehringer Ingelheim is making yet another bet that RNA therapies hold the key to treating metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). The German drugmaker is paying British biotech Ochre Bio $35 million in upfront and near-term research-based milestone payments to investigate “multiple targets” for chronic liver disease. Top of the list of indications will be MASH, previously known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Should any of the targets in the “multi-year” collaboration prove fruitful, Ochre is also in line for various clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones as well as tiered royalties, which add up to a deal value north of $1 billion. Ochre’s remit is developing RNA therapies that enhance the liver’s regenerative capabilities in order to halt or reverse chronic liver diseases. It’s far from the first time Boehringer has played in this space—the pharma kicked off the year signing a $2 billion biobucks deal with Suzhou Ribo Life Science and Ribocure Pharmaceuticals to see whether their RNAi drug platform that targets disease-causing genes specifically in liver cells could complement Boehringer’s own MASH expertise. Six years earlier, Boehringer penned back-to-back partnerships with Dicerna Pharmaceuticals and MiNA Therapeutics covering the use of siRNA and small activating RNA to treat MASH. Boehringer put this morning’s deal with Oxford, U.K.-based Ochre in the context of its “commitment to improving the lives of people living with interconnected cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases, including MASH cirrhosis.” “Our partnership with Ochre Bio is driven by a shared goal to accelerate the development of new treatments for chronic liver diseases including MASH cirrhosis,” Søren Tullin, Ph.D., global head of cardiometabolic diseases research at Boehringer, said in the release. “Ochre Bio brings to the table unique and exciting capabilities in liver disease research,” Tullin added. “We believe their application of advanced genomics and machine learning coupled with human-centric translational models holds the potential to uncover novel regenerative pathways that will make a meaningful difference in the lives of those affected by chronic liver disease.” Boehringer has already notched some success in the MASH space so far this year, with the company’s Zealand Pharma-partnered glucagon/GLP-1 agonist survodutide demonstrating improvements in disease activity and liver scarring in a phase 2 trial in February.

Boehringer Ingelheim has entered into a potential $1 billion multi-year partnership with Ochre Bio to develop regenerative treatments for chronic liver diseases, including late-stage metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) cirrhosis. Søren Tullin, global head of cardiometabolic diseases research at Boehringer, said in a statement Monday that Ochre "brings to the table unique and exciting capabilities in liver disease research."The partnership centres on Ochre's discovery platform, which combines machine learning with big data, including advanced imaging and deep genomic phenotyping, as well as in-house RNA chemistry and ex vivo human-organ perfusion models, to identify and understand new regenerative targets for chronic liver diseases. The goal is to develop treatments that can modulate these targets and enhance the liver's self-repair capabilities, potentially preventing or even reversing disease progression.As part of the multi-target collaboration, Ochre will receive up to $35 million in upfront, plus near-term research-based milestone payments. It is also eligible for milestones tied to clinical, regulatory, and commercial success as well as tiered royalties, pushing the deal's overall value potentially over $1 billion.A 'nudge' to help regenerationThe UK biotech raised $30 million in a series A round in 2022. Its work to date has involved analysing thousands of donated human livers to better understand the causes of disease, and exploring if changes to RNA can extend the lifespan of transplanted livers."What we're trying to do is give the liver a little nudge in the right direction to support it to regenerate," according to Ochre’s chief scientific officer Quin Wills. Cells in a cirrhotic liver, for example, have lost a decision-making process that would enable them to start dividing and restore capacity. Wills says that "by changing certain 'switches' using these RNA therapies, we help them make those decisions again."Deeper push into liver diseaseMeanwhile, the partnership builds on Boehringer's continuing push to develop treatments for interconnected cardiometabolic diseases. In February, the company reported promising Phase II results for survodutide, an experimental glucagon/GLP-1 receptor dual agonist being co-developed with Zealand Pharma. Up to 83% of MASH patients treated with survodutide achieved significant histological improvement without worsening fibrosis, compared to only 18.2% for placebo.Survodutide's response rate in the trial was "very impressive," commented Daniel Drucker, an endocrinologist and professor of medicine at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, in an interview with FirstWord earlier this year, as was the drug's definitive impact on fibrosis. Drucker suggested the results were at least as strong as those for other incretin-based therapies, including liraglutide and semaglutide.Boehringer also has other deals in the space. It kicked off the year with a pact potentially worth more than $2 billion to use Suzhou Ribo Life Science's siRNA liver-targeting delivery technology to develop RNA-based therapeutics for MASH. Prior to that it had explored RNAi's potential to treat MASH through partnerships with MiNA Therapeutics and Dicerna Pharmaceuticals.

PARAMUS, N.J., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NS Pharma, Inc. (NS Pharma) announced that its parent company, Nippon Shinyaku Co., Ltd. (Nippon Shinyaku) – headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, entered into a joint research agreement with MiNA Therapeutics – headquartered in London, United Kingdom, to develop nucleic acid drugs for the potential treatment of intractable and rare diseases of the central nervous system. The agreement was facilitated by the NS Pharma Innovation Research Partnering (IRP) team, located in Cambridge, MA. Continue Reading We are excited about the innovative possibilities that come from working with small activating RNA (RNAa) therapeutics. Post this Pictured: NS Pharma Innovation Research Partnering (IRP) Team "We are incredibly proud of our IRP division and the work it is doing with the great team at MiNA Therapeutics," said NS Pharma President Tsugio Tanaka. "We are excited about the innovative possibilities that come from working with small activating RNA (RNAa) therapeutics." Through this agreement, MiNA Therapeutics will provide Nippon Shinyaku RNAa therapeutics, which are oligonucleotides that can increase the transcription of a target gene. Nippon Shinyaku will have the right to exercise an option to exclusively research and develop pharmaceutical candidates derived from the alliance with MiNA Therapeutics by paying lump sum payments and milestones associated with the progress of research and development. After exercising the option, the company will pay milestones and royalties commensurate with the progress of the development and the sales of the product(s) after launch. "Through this research alliance with MiNA Therapeutics, we will continue our efforts to apply our nucleic acid drug technology in the central nervous system," Tanaka stated. "NS Pharma is committed to extending our technology as far as it can go to help improve the lives of patients with rare diseases." Nippon Shinyaku has been developing compounds in several therapeutic fields, including hematologic malignancies and intractable/orphan diseases. The company's U.S. subsidiary is NS Pharma, headquartered in Paramus, NJ with additional offices in Cambridge. About MiNA Therapeutics MiNA Therapeutics is the global leader in small activating RNA (RNAa) therapeutics. Harnessing innate mechanisms of gene activation, RNAa therapeutics are a revolutionary new class of medicines that can restore or boost normal function of genes and thereby protein-modulated pathways in cells. The company is advancing a proprietary pipeline of new medicines with an initial focus on genetic medicine, while collaborating with leading pharmaceutical companies to apply its technology platform across a broad range of other therapeutic areas. Based on its unique know-how in RNA activation, MiNA Therapeutics is expanding the possibilities of RNA-based medicine. . About NS Pharma, Inc. NS Pharma, Inc., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Shinyaku Co., Ltd. NS Pharma is a registered trademark of the Nippon Shinyaku Co., Ltd. For more information, please visit nspharma.com. U.S. Media Contact: [email protected] SOURCE NS Pharma, Inc.