Boehringer Ingelheim buys CD38 drug; Merck bets on machine learning in antibody design
CD38 may be best known as a target for cancer therapies — notably J&J’s Darzalex and Sanofi’s Sarclisa. But Boehringer Ingelheim believes it has potential in immunological and fibrotic diseases, too.
The German pharma giant is acquiring a preclinical CD38 program from Ribon Therapeutics, paying an undisclosed upfront and promising future milestones.
Unlike the approved CD38 drugs, which are both antibodies, Ribon developed a small molecule inhibitor, which it believes carries the extra advantage of blocking intracellular CD38 activity.
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