New Collaboration to Promote Discovery of Innovative Respiratory Therapies

Weill Cornell Medicine and Boehringer Ingelheim have announced a collaboration that will investigate novel approaches to treating chronic respiratory disease.

The 3-year collaboration will unite Weill Cornell’s Department of Genetic Medicine with pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim so both parties can bring their unique experience to the table. The geneticists will utilize the resources and expertise of the cutting-edge drug developer to transform their research into effective treatments. They have already worked together on a similar project involving inflammatory bowel disease.

Most treatments for chronic lower respiratory diseases, which include chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), involve treating symptoms and preserving quality of life for the more than 15 million Americans living with COPD. However, the newly announced partnership is aiming higher, seeking innovative therapies that can halt or even reverse the progression of COPD.

“Our continuous search for molecular drivers of chronic obstructive airway diseases has revealed novel repair mechanisms that warrant further investigation of their potential as therapeutic approaches,” Ronald G. Crystal, MD, Chairman of Genetic Medicine, said in a press statement announcing the joint project. “We will look to further expand our knowledge about progressive airway destruction in close collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim and focus on promising therapeutic concepts with the potential to slow down or halt progressive airway damage in patients with COPD.”

Clive R. Wood, PhD, senior corporate vice president of Discovery Research at Boehringer Ingelheim, praised Crystal’s work in the announcement, calling him “one of the leading scientists in severe progressive airway diseases worldwide.” He voiced optimism about the collaboration’s success and predicted it would “translate new discoveries into drug discovery.”

“The new collaboration is an excellent example of our unique partnering approach and our focus on early innovation, underscoring our ambition to develop the next generation of medical treatments for patients with COPD,” he concluded.