CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Vol 22, No 1, January/February 2011
48
AFRICA
Industry News
Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company announce
strategic alliance to bring new diabetes treatments to patients
worldwide
•
Major diabetes care agreement centres
on four pipeline compounds represent-
ing several of the largest and most
promising product classes.
•
Companies will jointly develop and
commercialise a pipeline of oral diabe-
tes agents and basal insulin analogues.
The alliance also includes the option to
co-develop and co-commercialise an
anti-TGF-beta monoclonal antibody.
•
Boehringer Ingelheim’s innovative
late-stage diabetes pipeline drives its
expansion into a new therapeutic area,
supplemented by two basal insulin
analogues, currently under develop-
ment from Lilly.
•
Agreement furthers Lilly’s commit-
ment to offer one of the broadest
portfolios in diabetes care and provide,
together with Boehringer Ingelheim,
more options for people with diabetes,
their healthcare providers and payers.
•
Boehringer Ingelheim hosted a media
event and Lilly hosted an investor
conference call to discuss the content
and benefits of the alliance.
Boehringer
Ingelheim
(Germany
and Indianapolis, USA) and Eli Lilly
and Company (NYSE: LLY) recently
announced a global agreement to jointly
develop and commercialise a portfolio
of diabetes compounds currently in mid-
and late-stage development. Included are
Boehringer Ingelheim’s two oral diabe-
tes agents, linagliptin and BI10773,
and Lilly’s two basal insulin analogues,
LY2605541 and LY2963016, as well as
the option to co-develop and co-commer-
cialise Lilly’s anti-TGF-beta monoclonal
antibody.
Linagliptin is a dipeptidyl pepti-
dase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor discovered by
Boehringer Ingelheim and being devel-
oped as an oral once-daily tablet for
the treatment of type 2 diabetes. It is
currently under regulatory review in the
USA, Europe and Japan. Boehringer
Ingelheim’s BI10773, a sodium-depend-
ent glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT-2)
inhibitor, began enrolment in phase III
clinical trials last year. It belongs to a new,
emerging class of diabetes compounds
that block tubular re-absorption of
glucose in the kidney. Currently there are
no SGLT-2 inhibitors approved for use.
Lilly’s two basal insulin analogue
candidates are expected to enter phase
III clinical testing in 2011. These are
LY2605541, a structurally novel basal
insulin analogue, and LY2963016, a new
insulin glargine product. The agreement
also includes an option for Boehringer
Ingelheim to co-develop and co-commer-
cialise another Lilly diabetes molecule,
an anti-TGF-beta monoclonal antibody,
which is currently in phase II of clini-
cal testing in patients with diabetes and
chronic kidney disease.
The alliance will leverage the collec-
tive scientific expertise and business
capabilities of two leading research-driv-
en pharmaceutical companies to address
patient needs arising from the growing
global diabetes epidemic.
‘We are very excited about this new
and extensive alliance with Boehringer
Ingelheim, with whom we have partnered
successfully in the past’, said John C
Lechleiter, PhD, Lilly chairman and chief
executive officer. ‘Working together, we
will comprise one of the most robust
diabetes pipelines in the pharmaceutical
industry. For Lilly, this alliance expands
our range of offerings for people with
diabetes, strengthens our diabetes care
capabilities and offers the prospect of
near-term revenue opportunities as we
address the upcoming loss of patent
exclusivity for several of our products.’
‘Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly have
agreed to form a strategic alliance in
diabetes at a time point when we at
Boehringer Ingelheim are entering anoth-
er new therapeutic area with innova-
tive compounds from our own research
and development. This cooperation will
give Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly the
combined benefits of Lilly’s expertise
in the diabetes market and two basal
insulin analogues, as well as Boehringer
Ingelheim’s rich and innovative late-stage
pipeline’, said Prof Andreas Barner, chair-
man of the Board of Managing Directors
of Boehringer Ingelheim.
For further information please contact:
Ms Sue Thomas (Medical Information
Manager) on +27 11 348 2514 or Dr
Kevin Ho (Medical Director) on +27 11
348 2517.
1. The International Diabetes Federation
Diabetes Atlas. Available at:
diabetesatlas.org/content/some-285-million-
people-worldwide-will-live-diabetes-2010.
Accessed September 10, 2010.
2. Diabetes Statistics. American Diabetes
Association. Available at:
-
tes.org/diabetes-basics/diabetes-statistics/.
Accessed September 10, 2010.
3. Direct and Indirect Costs of Diabetes in
the United States. American Diabetes
Association. Available at:
-
tes.org/how-to-help/action/resources/cost-of-
diabetes.html. Accessed September 10, 2010.
4. Saydah SH, Fradkin J, Cowie CC. Poor
control of risk factors for vascular disease
among adults with previously diagnosed
diabetes.
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