Boehringer Ingelheim acquires Funxional Therapeutics’ FX125L compound

INGELHEIM, Germany and CAMBRIDGE, U.K.—Althoughfinancial details of the transaction were not disclosed, Boehringer Ingelheim announcedJuly 23 that it and Funxional Therapeutics, a clinical-stage, private company, hadsigned a deal under which Boehringer Ingelheim will acquire the global rightsto Funxional Therapeutics' FX125L compound and somatotaxin program.

FX125L is a small molecule to treat a broad rangeof inflammatory diseases that was recently studied in a Phase II clinical trialin patients, and Boehringer Ingelheim will be responsible for all furtherresearch, development and commercialization of that compound.

"Boehringer Ingelheim is delighted to addanother promising compound to its development pipeline of drugs for thetreatment of respiratory disease, one of its most important therapeutic areas,"said Prof. Klaus Dugi, corporate senior vice president of medicine. "Byacquiring the Funxional Therapeutics program, we are looking forward tobringing a potential new therapy to patients, for instance those suffering fromasthma and COPD."

While the FX125L compound is what has most caughtBoehginer Ingelheim's eye, it seems, the drug is part of a larger somatotaxinprogram. Somatotaxins, the companies explain, are a new class ofanti-inflammatory small molecules that exploit a new pathway discovered by FunxionalTherapeutics. This novel pathway acts through the type-2 somatostatin receptorinvolved in the resolution of inflammation, which is disrupted in chronicinflammatory diseases such as asthma, COPD and rheumatoid arthritis. FunxionalTherapeutics' portfolio of somatotaxins exploit this pathway to deliver reportedlybroad and potent anti-inflammatory activity, with different compounds optimizedfor topical, parenteral and oral delivery.

"We are very pleased that the futuredevelopment of FX125L and the somatotaxin programme will be now driven forward byBoehringer Ingelheim," said David Grainger, founder and chief scientific officerof Funxional Therapeutics. "They are a very impressive organization and theirpeople have the necessary knowledge, skills and experience to successfullydevelop FX125L."