Boehringer Ingelheim Awards Innovation Prize to Ablevia

The Boehringer Ingelheim Innovation Prize was established in 2015 and is awarded to outstanding life science start-ups worldwide. The prize has also been awarded in Austria since 2020. “The Innovation Prize is designed to promote the latest technologies and innovative research in the life science community,” says Guido Boehmelt, Head of Research Beyond Borders at Boehringer Ingelheim Vienna. 

“Ablevia is an outstanding example of the type of applied research that we like to support. It has developed an extremely innovative approach that could be the answer to a very important problem that arises frequently in the development and clinical use of biologics. The jury was impressed by the breadth of possible applications, which Ablevia supported by convincing data.”

Immune regulation as key to new therapy

The repeated administration of biologics can cause immune responses to the drugs, leading to the formation of anti-drug antibodies (ADAs). A significant proportion of the population already carries antibodies against viral gene therapy and oncolysis vectors, while patients reliant on enzyme or protein substitution therapy often develop antibodies against these very drugs. The formation of such antibodies can diminish the effectiveness of biologics.

The start-up Ablevia was founded in 2018 at the Vienna BioCenter. The company developed peptide-based compounds called SADC (selective antibody depletion compounds), capable of creating an ADA-free window for therapy.

“I should like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude. It is a great honor to be recognized by Boehringer Ingelheim in this way,” says Oskar Smrzka. “We believe that our approach of selective and rapid elimination of damaging and unwanted antibodies could help patients in many therapeutic areas, from the preclinical testing of human biotherapeutics on animals to the treatment of rare diseases and cancer. The company is committed to continuously improving the safety and efficacy of biotherapeutics for patients with ADA problems and to facilitating access to gene therapy,” says Smrzka, the founder of Ablevia.

Valuable support through mentoring and infrastructure

Apart from the provision of office and lab space, the prizewinners will benefit from an intensive mentoring program by researchers and managers at Boehringer Ingelheim. “Our grass roots innovation initiatives are designed to help young companies to develop their products for market launch. We not only support them with necessary resources but also offer expert knowledge gathered from our global research and development networks,” says Boehmelt.

Since 2015 over thirty companies worldwide have received the Innovation Prize worth more than 1.5 million euros. Ablevia is the latest recipient to benefit from collaboration with a research-driven pharmaceutical company.

About Ablevia

Ablevia biotech GmbH was founded in 2018 and is managed by Oskar Smrzka, a scientist with extensive experience in fundamental and translational research with corresponding patents and publications. Together with co-founder and head of business development Christof Paparella, an economic scientist with experience of system design, optimization of business processes, and maintenance of quality standards in the pharmaceutical industry, Smrzka has put together a team of qualified scientists from the research and biotech industry to establish Ablevia as a highly successful biotech company.

About Boehringer Ingelheim RCV

The Boehringer Ingelheim Regional Center Vienna is responsible for business with human and animal health products made by Boehringer Ingelheim in Austria and over thirty countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Switzerland, and Israel. The entire clinical research in the region is also coordinated from Vienna, the main center for cancer research and a biopharmaceutical research and production hub within the Group. Boehringer Ingelheim RCV generated total sales of 1,383.4 million euros in 2023 and has 4,686 employees, including 3,247 in Austria. www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/at