Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH and Sagres Discovery have agreed on a research collaboration to identify novel oncology drug targets using Sagres'proprietary genomics and bioinformatics technologies.

Under the agreement, Boehringer Ingelheim will receive from Sagres exclusive rights to certain targets to develop and market antibody and small molecule products worldwide. Sagres will retain rights to certain targets and will receive from Boehringer Ingelheim a significant up-front payment, committed research funding, milestone payments, and royalty payments generated from product sales. Financial terms were not disclosed.

During the research collaboration, Sagres will apply innovative mouse tumour biology and in vivo screening technology coupled with powerful bioinformatics to identify novel targets with a high degree of validation for functional relevance. Boehringer Ingelheim will then develop monoclonal antibodies and non-antibody products against selected targets primarily in the area of oncology and will be responsible for developing, manufacturing and marketing products.

Wolfgang J. Rettig, Head of Boehringer Ingelheim's dedicated drug discovery center for innovative cancer medicines in Vienna, Austria, said: "We are eager to move beyond the initial, data-gathering phase of genomics in drug discovery. Our partners at Sagres provide smart solutions for functional cancer genomics, and we see a nice fit with Boehringer Ingelheim`s leading position in biopharmaceutics."

David Ferrick, CEO of Sagres Discovery, noted: "We are pleased to execute this agreement with a pharmaceutical corporation as knowledgeable in drug discovery and development as Boehringer Ingelheim. To collaborate with such a partner is strong validation of our comprehensive forward genetics approach to discovering genes causative for cancer."