ViVerita Therapeutics Partners with Boehringer Ingelheim to Discover Novel Cancer Targets Using In Vivo CRISPR Platform
Key Insights
ViVerita Therapeutics (search) announced a strategic research collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim to accelerate discovery and validation of novel therapeutic targets for cancer treatment.
The partnership will utilize ViVerita's industry-leading in vivo CRISPR-based discovery platform to evaluate putative targets under physiologically relevant conditions, addressing limitations of traditional in vitro approaches.
The collaboration aims to overcome the challenge that cancer is responsible for one in six deaths globally, with many treatment options remaining limited due to focus on a narrow set of known drug targets.
ViVerita Therapeutics (search), a US-based next-generation precision oncology company, announced a strategic research collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim on May 7, 2025, aimed at accelerating the discovery and validation of novel therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. Under the collaboration terms, ViVerita will leverage its industry-leading in vivo CRISPR-based discovery platform to evaluate a curated set of putative targets identified by Boehringer Ingelheim, assessing their functions under physiologically relevant conditions.
Addressing Critical Unmet Medical Need
Cancer continues to be one of the leading challenges in medicine, responsible for one in six deaths globally, with treatment options for many cancers remaining limited. According to the companies, one of the primary reasons for this limitation is that drug discovery efforts are focusing on a limited number of known drug targets. Through this collaboration, Boehringer Ingelheim aims to change this paradigm and pave the way to novel treatments for people living with cancer.
Overcoming Traditional Discovery Limitations
Cancer target identification has traditionally relied on studying cell lines grown in vitro. While this approach is widely adopted and has contributed to numerous important discoveries, it also has relevant shortcomings, primarily due to the inability of in vitro systems to faithfully model key physiological conditions present in the tumor microenvironment. Conversely, many putative targets identified in vitro do not validate in vivo.
"The ViVerita platform uniquely combines transformative in vivo high-throughput genetic screening technologies with faithful disease models," said Xuewen Pan, Co-Founder, President and CEO of ViVerita Therapeutics (search). "It will empower the discovery of cancer driver pathway-specific targets that have so-far been challenging to address. It also enables high-throughput validation of putative targets discovered using other approaches under physiological conditions."
Strategic Alignment with Innovation Goals
Pan expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, stating, "We are very excited to work with Boehringer Ingelheim, a leader in innovative oncology research and drug development, to discover new therapies to benefit cancer patients."
The collaboration with ViVerita aligns with Boehringer Ingelheim's strategy to identify and validate novel, clinically relevant drivers of tumors to develop innovative first-in-class treatment options for patients in need.
About the Technology Platform
ViVerita Therapeutics (search) is an early-stage biotechnology company dedicated to discovering a new wave of high-value oncology targets and therapies for the treatment of cancers. With its industry-leading in vivo discovery platform, ViVerita is uniquely positioned to unveil the bulk of novel targets needed to block the tumorigenic effects of numerous oncogenic drivers and to empower the discovery of the next wave of precision cancer therapies. The company is headquartered in the Boston area and has a wholly-owned subsidiary, ViVerita Discovery FlexCo, in Vienna, Austria.