Boehringer Ingelheim enters research agreement with Saniona

Pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim has entered into a research collaboration with Saniona, a Danish based pharma company.

The collaboration, which was announced yesterday, August 29, is aimed at discovering and developing novel compounds for the treatment of schizophrenia.

Saniona could receive up to €90 million ($100.4 million) in a milestone payment including an upfront payment of €5 million upon signing of the agreement. The collaboration will contribute to Boehringer Ingelheim’s drug discovery strategy for neuropsychiatric diseases.

The strategy focuses on systematically investigating dominant symptom domains and the underlying neurobiology across mental disorders such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease and depression.

Clive Wood, senior corporate vice president at Boehringer Ingelheim, said: “We are very pleased to be working with Saniona’s experienced scientific and management team and to build on their ion channel drug discovery platform.”

He added: “Working together and blending our joint expertise and capabilities, we have the potential to advance new treatment options for schizophrenia.”

Jørgen Drejer, CEO of Saniona, said: “We are delighted to have Boehringer Ingelheim as partner for our schizophrenia programme. My team and I have worked in a long lasting partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim before and I can truly say that this is one of our preferred partners.”