Boehringer Ingelheim and Dicerna to develop new liver disease therapies

Boehringer Ingelheim has announced a new partnership with Dicerna Therapeutics that aims to develop new treatments for chronic liver diseases.

The collaboration and licence agreement will focus on the discovery and development of novel GalXC RNAi therapeutics for the treatment of various liver diseases, with an initial focus on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

Dicerna's GalXC platform uses RNAi to inhibit the expression of disease-causing genes by destroying their messenger RNAs, allowing the therapies to silence previously inaccessible drug targets.

This is particularly important in the case of NASH, a condition caused by the buildup of fat in the liver that can lead to liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. There is no approved treatment option for this disease, which is soon expected to become the most common cause of advanced liver disorders.

Dr Clive Wood, corporate senior vice-president for discovery research at Boehringer Ingelheim, said: "This partnership complements our existing research efforts and expertise and offers distinct advantages in developing exciting new therapy options."

This represents an important new addition to Boehringer Ingelheim's cardiometabolic pipeline and will provide the company with additional combination options.

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