Boehringer Ingelheim and MD Anderson Cancer Center join forces to discover new treatment approaches for pancreatic cancer

Boehringer Ingelheim and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today announced a collaboration focused on developing innovative medicines for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The new collaboration combines MD Anderson’s unique understanding of potential drivers of PDAC with Boehringer Ingelheim’s experience in drug discovery and development.

Pancreatic cancer accounts for four percent of cancer deaths worldwide (330,000 people) and is the seventh most common cause of death from cancer. Pancreatic cancer is anticipated to become the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States before 2030. Newly diagnosed patients have a median survival of less than one year, and a 5-year survival rate of only 3 to 5 percent. PDAC is one of the most lethal of cancers due to its late detection and resistance to available standard-of-care therapy. Effective medicines directed against PDAC are therefore urgently needed.

“We are excited to be able to work with the leading cancer research and care institution in the world to develop therapies for patients with this devastating cancer,” said Clive Wood, senior corporate vice president of Discovery Research at Boehringer Ingelheim. “This partnership is a perfect match because it combines MD Anderson’s outstanding capabilities in preclinical concept validation and clinical testing with Boehringer Ingelheim’s strength in developing innovative medicines in novel target spaces.”

The collaboration will focus on identifying and developing therapeutic concepts in novel target areas as well as identification of biomarkers that can accurately identify patients who would respond to potential new therapies.

“At MD Anderson, we have created integrated platforms that will enable the discovery of more effective therapeutics for cancer patients,” said Timothy Heffernan, executive director and co-leader for MD Anderson’s Center for Co-Clinical Trials. “This alliance combines expertise in cancer genetics and translational medicine with outstanding drug discovery and development and it has great potential to conquer devastating diseases like pancreatic cancer.”

About MD Anderson
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston ranks as one of the world’s most respected centers focused on cancer patient care, research, education and prevention. The institution’s sole mission is to end cancer for patients and their families around the world. MD Anderson is one of only 45 comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). MD Anderson is ranked No.1 for cancer care in U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospital’s” survey. It has ranked as one of the nation’s top two hospitals since the survey began in 1990, and has ranked first for 11 of the past 14 years. MD Anderson receives a cancer center support grant from the NCI of the National Institutes of Health (P30 CA016672).

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Boehringer Ingelheim
The Boehringer Ingelheim group is one of the world’s 20 leading pharmaceutical companies. Headquartered in Ingelheim, Germany, Boehringer Ingelheim operates globally with 146 affiliates and a total of more than 47,700 employees. The focus of the family-owned company, founded in 1885, is researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing new medications of high therapeutic value for human and veterinary medicine.

Social responsibility is an important element of the corporate culture at Boehringer Ingelheim. This includes worldwide involvement in social projects, such as the initiative “Making more Health” and caring for the employees. Respect, equal opportunities and reconciling career and family form the foundation of the mutual cooperation. In everything it does, the company focuses on environmental protection and sustainability.

In 2014, Boehringer Ingelheim achieved net sales of about 13.3 billion euros. R&D expenditure corresponds to 19.9 per cent of its net sales.

For more information please visit www.boehringer-ingelheim.com