Boehringer Ingelheim GMBH has been down this path before, but this time will be different, it says. In 2014, BI shuttered a hepatitis C program consisting of two clinical candidates due to a perceived lack of advantages compared to companies more advanced in HCV, but in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) a different set of factors will give the German pharma time to catch up and even take advantage of expertise obtained from its efforts in HCV.
The family-owned company has one candidate in clinical development for NASH – the Phase II oral amine oxidase copper-containing 3 (AOC3), inhibitor BI 1467335 – which it believes can address the multi-factorial disease with metabolic and anti-inflammatory benefits. But in November, BI signed a pair of partnerships with RNA-interference-focused biotechs – Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Inc. and MiNA Therapeutics Ltd