Our Partners_ViraTherapeutics | Boehringer Ingelheim

“It’s not about large company vs. small company. It’s about knowledge plus knowledge. That’s the secret to a successful partnership – a real marriage of complementary skills.” So says Patrik Erlmann, Ph.D., Head of Research at ViraTherapeutics. And he should know. What began in 2013 as a small spin-out from the Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria, is now a fully integrated, but distinct unit of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Discovery Research organization.

With a focus on oncolytic viruses, ViraTherapeutics was founded by Prof. Dorothee von Laer, M.D., Head of the Virology Institute at the Medical University of Innsbruck and the inventor of the Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Glycoprotein (VSV-GP) technology that is ViraTherapeutics’ principle focus. While the potential of viruses to treat cancer first emerged more than a hundred years ago, only one therapeutic virus has been widely approved so far.

A Core Pillar of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Cancer Immunology Strategy

The team at Boehringer Ingelheim had always been interested in oncolytic viruses as it supports the company’s cancer immunology strategy to turn cold tumors hot. Eric Borges, Ph.D., Vice President, Cancer Immunology and Immune Modulation explains: “We were looking for approaches to heat up the tumor; viruses can do this naturally because they are very immunogenic and induce inflammation. At the time, oncolytic virus approaches were focused on direct injections into the tumor but we were interested in something that could be given systemically, which not only affects the primary tumor, but also metastases.”

Timing is everything. And in 2015, when Boehringer Ingelheim’s Venture Fund was scouting for investment opportunities with the potential to support the Company’s emerging Cancer Immunology efforts, ViraTherapeutics was looking for investment to advance the technology they had been working on into clinical development.

Oncolytic viruses have the ability to be powerful tools in the fight against cancer. They are capable of selectively infecting and killing cancer cells, leaving normal cells undamaged. Many oncolytic viruses have a broader anti-tumor effect. The dying cancer cells infected by the virus release tumor antigens, cytokines and danger-associated molecular patterns that allow the cancer to be “seen” by the immune system. This can lead to a local immune response against nearby tumor cells, or a systemic response against tumor cells in other parts of the body. Viruses can also be used as ‘Trojan Horses’ to deliver other therapeutic proteins into infected cancer cells.

From Venture Investment to Acquisition

Lisa Eggerer — Lisa Egerer, Ph.D.,
Chief Operating Officer, ViraTherapeutics

Eric Borges, Ph.D.,
Vice President, Cancer Immunology & Immune Modulation, Boehringer Ingelheim

As the partnership developed it became clear that this was a marriage founded in technology, biology and drug development know-how. “It was immediately a very scientific, curiosity-driven collaboration,” explains Eric Borges. “ViraTherapeutics was very good on the technology. They know how to manipulate the virus, how to change it, how to test it, how to produce it. And we know what it takes to develop a drug.” Patrik Erlmann agrees: “For us it was a win-win situation, because it helped our product and it helped us. From the beginning we were working with people who were really interested in the science and who knew how to translate that into the clinic.” In 2018, as the project was about to advance into phase 1 development, the ‘marriage certificate’ was signed and ViraTherapeutics became part of the Boehringer Ingelheim group of companies.

Working Together to Solve Scientific Challenges

But while opposites attract, the discovery path can be strewn with obstacles to overcome and partners can have different approaches. Biotech companies are typically very agile with a small number of projects and a desire to advance these into clinical development as quickly as possible. Large pharmaceutical companies have a more extensive portfolio where priorities need to be balanced and there are predefined processes and multiple levels of decision-making. So how did the companies navigate scientific challenges together? Lisa Egerer describes this as “two worlds colliding! But with unique expertise on both sides, we could come together to find a solution and drive things forward.” For Eric Borges, the diversity of culture and thoughts led to important rewards. “It’s amazing. We look at the technology from completely different perspectives. But if you work together to overcome the hurdles you generate this winning spirit to get the best of both worlds to create real value for patients.”

Patrik Erlmann, Ph.D.,
Head of Research, ViraTherapeutics

Patients First

This patient centricity is fundamental to all research at Boehringer Ingelheim, as is a sense of urgency to accelerate new science as quickly as possible. Patrik Erlmann believes that this has been achieved. “This was a real joint effort. We worked together to create development candidates and saw progress much faster than we would have done without the collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim.”

Now the companies are looking forward to VSV-GP being tested in patients for the first time and are also exploring opportunities for combination therapy with checkpoint inhibitors and AMAL Therapeutics’* KISIMA^® cancer vaccine.

“This is why the acquisition of ViraTherapeutics was so valuable,” says Eric Borges. “Sometimes, a company can acquire an asset and advance into the clinic without the partner. However, in this case we had the opportunity to share our ideas with the experts from ViraTherapeutics to jointly maximize the potential of this technology and form a portfolio. The innovation power you create, because so many different minds have found a way to work together, is tremendous. And we believe that this will provide a real benefit for patients in the long-term.”