Boehringer Ingelheim and Circuit Therapeutics announce obesity collaboration

Boehringer Ingelheim has announced a new research collaboration with Circuit Therapeutics that aims to find novel medicines for the treatment of obesity.

This three-year partnership will investigate metabolic disorders with the goal of developing novel medicines to improve the treatment of obesity and associated diseases. It will be the second collaboration using Circuit's proprietary optogenetics technology platform.

With this technology, the companies will identify targets in central nervous circuits relevant for obesity, and central and peripheral circuits relevant for coordinating food intake. This will broaden their understanding of the mechanisms involved in obesity, while also enabling the prioritisation of novel therapeutic intervention targets.

The prior collaboration between the two companies focused on the discovery of new treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders.

Dr Michel Pairet, senior corporate vice-president of research and non-clinical development at Boehringer Ingelheim, said: "Boehringer Ingelheim is excited about the potential of the optogenetics technology platform developed by Circuit and wants to carry on the success already achieved in the area of neurology into the area of metabolism."

Last month, the company licensed a third-generation EGFR-targeted therapy from Hanmi Pharmaceutical, which will be developed as a treatment for lung cancer.