Words by Isabel O’Brien
Boehringer Ingelheim has announced a major partnership with Tessellate Bio to develop first-in-class, oral precision therapies for patients with hard-to-treat cancers, positioning the pair as a potential new force in the evolving field of synthetic lethality.
The agreement, valued at more than €500m, will see the two companies combine their expertise to target tumours that rely on alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT), a mechanism present in 10-15% of cancers, which typically have a poor prognosis and a lack of targeted therapies.
Synthetic lethality has emerged as a promising strategy in oncology, offering a way for treatments to attack cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. The approach has already delivered success with PARP inhibitors in BRCA-mutated cancers, but much of the potential in this space remains untapped.
In a press release, Lamine Mbow, Global Head of Discovery Research, Boehringer Ingelheim, said: “This new collaboration complements our oncology research portfolio and further reinforces our commitment to transforming the lives of people living with cancer.” Andree Blaukat, CEO, Tessellate Bio, also commented, calling Boehringer “the ideal partner” for advancing the programme targeting ALT-positive cancers.
The partnership comes at a time when precision medicine is gaining momentum as the next frontier in cancer care. The focus is not only on delivering more personalised, less toxic treatments, but also on tackling previously ‘undruggable’ mutations and mechanisms – a goal that aligns with the promise of synthetic lethality demonstrated in this collaboration.
