CDR-Life and Boehringer Ingelheim have reached a significant milestone in their collaborative effort to develop a breakthrough treatment for geographic atrophy (GA), as their therapeutic candidate BI 771716 advances into Phase 2 clinical trials. This achievement marks the fifth milestone in their partnership, building on successful Phase 1 results that demonstrated promising safety outcomes.
Clinical Progress and Safety Profile
The Phase 1 clinical trials yielded encouraging results, showing a favorable safety profile for BI 771716 across both single and multiple intravitreal doses. Patient recruitment for the Phase 2 trials is currently underway, marking a crucial step forward in the development process.
Innovative Therapeutic Design
BI 771716 represents a potential paradigm shift in retinal therapy, engineered using CDR-Life's proprietary technology platform. The drug's distinctive molecular architecture, featuring a novel antibody fragment design, enables superior penetration across retinal layers to effectively reach disease targets. This characteristic positions BI 771716 as a potentially transformative treatment option for GA patients.
Partnership Momentum
"The achievement of this important fifth milestone in our partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim underscores the steady progress of BI 771716 in clinical development," said Christian Leisner, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer at CDR-Life. "This milestone further reinforces the ability of our platform to deliver drug candidates with the potential to treat devasting diseases such as GA."
The collaboration between CDR-Life and Boehringer Ingelheim, initiated in May 2020, has maintained consistent progress, with the selection of the antibody fragment-based therapeutic candidate occurring in September 2021. All planned milestones have been successfully achieved to date.
Disease Impact and Market Need
Geographic atrophy represents a significant unmet medical need, affecting more than 5 million people worldwide. As a chronic, progressive, and irreversible retinal condition associated with late-stage dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), GA has devastating consequences for patients, with over 40% experiencing legal blindness. The increasing prevalence of GA in aging populations underscores the urgent need for effective therapeutic interventions.
Development Platform and Future Implications
The advancement of BI 771716 showcases the potential of CDR-Life's M-gager® platform in developing targeted therapeutics. This technology platform has demonstrated its capability to create highly specific drug candidates, with applications extending beyond ophthalmology to oncology and autoimmune diseases.
