Boehringer and BioMed X crowdsource top scientists to fight COPD
pharmafile | September 23, 2015 | News story | Research and Development | Boehringer Ingelheim, COPD
Boehringer Ingelheim and BioMed X have used a crowdsourcing strategy to establish a global research team to collaborate on the discovery of new treatments for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
An interdisciplinary research team, led by Dr Renata Jurkowska from the University of Stuttgart, will be established in the BioMed X Innovation Center, located at the University of Heidelberg, Germany.
Boehringer, which has a portfolio of COPD drugs, will sponsor the research for an initial two years, with the option to extend for a further two years.
The team will focus on the characterisation of epigenetic regulators driving hallmarks of the COPD pathophysiology. Recent evidence indicates that epigenetic mechanisms could be major drivers of COPD.
Epigenetics is defined as heritable changes in gene expression or phenotype that do not involve a change in the underlying DNA sequence.
COPD is a chronic, progressive, treatable but incurable lung disease affecting some 210 million people worldwide. It is predicted to become the third leading cause of death by 2030, and is therefore a growing world health priority.
Michel Pairet, senior corporate vice president of research and non-clinical development at Boehringer Ingelheim, adds: “We are very enthusiastic about working with this highly motivated team of talented scientists at the BioMed X Innovation Center.
“We firmly believe that crowd sourcing is an exciting and refreshing way to find unconventional solutions based on the diversity of talents and ideas. This project is ideally suited to integrate breakthrough science in epigenetics research and emerging insights into the pathophysiology of COPD. Understanding epigenetic mechanisms will allow us to discover unknown drivers of the disease and accelerate the discovery of new medicines for treating patients with COPD.”
Christian Tidona, founder and managing director of BioMed X, explains: “The newly-formed research team will build on our strong scientific networks. The team will be guided by experienced mentors from academia and Boehringer Ingelheim and will receive an intensive entrepreneurship and leadership training.”
Joel Levy
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