Perspectives on Animal Health Partnering

In recent years, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health has signed numerous collaborations with start-ups active in emerging areas of technology – such as monoclonal antibodies and virus-like particles – that are considered key to the next wave of veterinary innovation.

Boehringer’s global head of business development and licensing for animal health is Megan Grether – a “scientist first and foremost” who holds a PhD in molecular genetics and has an “extensive track record” in the biopharmaceutical industry. She joined Boehringer’s human health business in 2015 as associate director of discovery research coordination, later moving to the animal health division as head of research strategy in 2019. She subsequently became head of project management for infectious diseases for animal health before taking up her current role in 2022.

Dr. Grether told S&P Global Animal Health the focus at Boehringer is anchored in a long-term scientific vision, driven by in-house innovation that works in synergy with truly collaborative partnerships. The company has worked to refine this strategy in recent years.

She said: “We focus on unmet needs and try to create solutions for the biggest problems. Over the last three to five years, we have finetuned our partnering strategy and have a clear focus on certain disease areas and partnering capabilities that complement our internal resources.”

“We have many examples of collaborative innovation and products that have come to the market that are rooted in partnerships. And we have a clear understanding of the unmet need across a wide range of disease categories, the feasibility to find a medical solution and the potential market. This helps us to assess our internal resources and to identify the right partners with specific strengths and expertise.”

Boehringer perceives a plethora of opportunities to bring in partners but stressed its approach is not to largely in-license compounds from another party and then market the product. Instead, its objective is to be involved in the early research phase and work closely with its respective partners to bring the solutions to commercial success.

Dr. Grether explained eight out of ten of Boehringer’s top-selling animal health products originate to a certain extent in external innovation. The species split between these products is relatively balanced, with five in the companion animal portfolio and three in livestock.

She remarked: “It’s not about buying in a top product from another company, it’s about driving that early innovation. The word ‘partner’ is key here. We approach our interactions with external organizations as true partnerships. We’re interested in partners that share our passion for science, conduct high quality research and want to work in a genuine collaboration. We won’t just bring something in-house and the partner disappears, nor do we invest into a project, come back three years later and hope it has worked out. We are looking for a good cultural fit and work side-by-side with partners. We’re in it for the long term and as a family-owned company we have the liberty to pursue our long-term scientific vision.”

An example of a recently commercialized product rooted in a partnership is the Fencovis vaccine for cattle, which was launched within the European Union and Great Britain last year. Boehringer claims Fencovis is the first vaccine to prevent calf diarrhea by E coli F5 and bovine rotavirus, and to reduce severity of calf diarrhea caused by bovine coronavirus. Fencovis is the result of a collaboration with Bioveta.

External exploration

Boehringer has defined focus areas where it is interested in exploring partnerships. These include infectious diseases, oncology, cardiometabolic diseases, central nervous system diseases, immunology and inflammation, oral health, pain and osteoarthritis as well as digital science and parasitology.

Oral health is one specific area where Boehringer perceives a big unmet need. Dr. Grether said: “Some studies have found four out of five dogs over the age of three years have some sort of oral health problems. These are not adequately served by the solutions that are out there and in severe cases, it leads to painful tooth extractions. It’s also a problem in cats, and we know that oral health issues can lead to systemic infections and bacterial infections in the gums. This is one of the areas where we are really interested in exploring partnerships to further explore the disease and non-surgical interventions.” In addition to oral health, Dr. Grether pinpointed immunological disorders and oncology as other areas with significant unmet needs.

Boehringer Ingelheim is also putting a strong focus on feline health. A recent development in this sector is the company’s launch of NexGard Combo for cats, which was approved in the EU during 2021 and more recently authorized in the US. The firm claims the product is the only broad-spectrum protection for felines that covers fleas, ticks, roundworms, hookworms, heartworm disease and tapeworms. Moreover, Boehringer was given the green light by the US FDA in August for Senvelgo (velagliflozin) – the first liquid, orally administered prescription medication to improve glycemic control in cats with diabetes mellitus.

The firm also has key activity in the equine space, evidenced by the acquisition of its partner Global Stem Cell Technology in 2020, in addition to the commercialization of Aservo EquiHaler for severe equine asthma and the RenuTend stem cell therapy to improve the healing of tendon and suspensory ligament injuries.

One Health, and specifically the interconnected health between humans and animals, has also been a strong focus for Boehringer for some time. Dr. Grether noted the COVID-19 pandemic and the renewed public focus on zoonotic diseases heightened attention and awareness in this respect, especially on the importance of vaccines and preventative solutions.

She commented: “We are focused on the prevention of transboundary infectious diseases, and avian influenza is a great example of an area where we are doing a lot of work. We already have excellent vaccines on the market but we’re also working hard to complement our portfolio. We have a new broadly reactive H5 candidate, designed with computationally optimized broadly cross-reactive antigen (COBRA), which is also the result of a partnership .”

Growing pool of start-ups

Dr. Grether described animal health as an “inherently risky business”, where a large number of compounds never make it to the market. Nevertheless, Boehringer has become more active in early research, particularly exploratory research. She believes the change in bigger pharma companies being more involved in very early innovation in animal health is something that has played out over the wider sector in recent years.  

Animal health industry expert Dr. Fabian Kausche recently discussed how the exponential growth of start-ups in the veterinary space has been driven in part by the rapid advancement and decreasing cost of technology required for discovery and development in new areas of innovation. Boehringer shares the same view.

Dr. Grether remarked: “There are definitely more start-ups in animal health than before. I think it’s led by a recognition of One Health, the increasing humanization of companion animals and some very important breakthroughs in human medicine – such as monoclonal antibodies – where the technology is mature enough and the cost of goods has come down so that these options now become feasible. In livestock, we see an increasing number of start-ups focusing on non-antibiotic solutions to disease management, which could be transformative.”

In addition to young businesses with a specific veterinary focus, there is a pool of human health start-ups that are working on projects with translational potential. How often do these early stage firms focused on human R&D approach Boehringer with technology that could be applied in animal health?

Dr. Grether said: “We see this increasing over time. We were recently at the BIO International Convention in the US. A year ago, when we were there and taking one-on-one partnering meetings, a lot of time was spent explaining to human pharma partners why they should consider animal health. This year, we had to spend a lot less time explaining animal health and people were starting to think proactively about the space.

“It is also worth noting that last year, we were the only animal health company that presented at the meeting. This year, Merck and Zoetis also presented, and when the animal health sessions started the room was filled. There seemed to be an increasing awareness and interest in animal health. We have companies that reach out to us, but we are also proactively looking all the time. We’re not just opportunistic.”

Dr. Grether previously noted the importance of human pharma collaboration to the continued growth of the animal health industry. She revealed cancer, immune disorders, anxiety and stress are some of the disease areas where Boehringer’s animal health arm collaborates closely with its human pharma colleagues.

Talent acquisition

According to Dr. Grether, one of the key obstacles faced by R&D teams at big companies like Boehringer is talent acquisition and retention. While there has been a lot of attention drawn to the shortage of veterinarians, she pointed out animal health is also competing for top talent on the industry side.

Dr. Grether said: “Traditionally, when people think about biotech they always think about human pharma. Thinking back to when I was in graduate school and doing post-doctoral work, animal health wasn’t even on the radar for me at that point. Now, there is increasing awareness of animal health, with people reaching out to us proactively from human health companies. Talent acquisition is a big topic. We’re looking for highly trained professionals that are very skilled in areas where there is a lot of competition.

“We do a lot to support the next generation of veterinary students. We have the Boehringer Ingelheim Veterinary Scholars Program that is a great opportunity to introduce veterinary medical students to hands-on research through an annual summer program. We just had our big symposium with around 650 people in Puerto Rico where students present their research and exchange with professionals. The initial focus was on students and veterinary colleges in the US but now we have involvement from Europe, Canada and Asia. Since 1989, more than 5,000 students have come through that program.

“We also have close collaboration, for example, with the University of Georgia. Our major R&D site in the US is co-located in Athens, and we work a lot with the research groups there. We also do a lot of talent acquisition through that institution – we’ve hired more than 100 people out of the university since 2019.

“Talent acquisition and retention is something we have to proactively manage. There’s a lot of competition for the top people and we want them to come to Boehringer. I think culture and opportunity are key to retention. When you come to the business, you really feel the commitment and passion, but there is also a lot of opportunity here. I started out in human pharma at Boehringer, so there is a lot of crossover potential.”

Dr. Grether discussed how diversity of thought is critical for innovation and is a reason why Boehringer is constantly looking out for new partners at all stages of the R&D and commercialization process.

She said: “We all come to the table with our own inherent biases, perspective and experience. While that’s great, it can lead to a single-minded approach to focusing on a given problem. What we find is when you bring in different perspectives, bring in people who have worked in other companies or different fields, they often have a different way of looking at things that can catalyze a new way of moving a project forward. That is something that we actively cultivate and foster.”