Variant Bio has expanded its multi-year research collaboration and license agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim to identify and validate potential drug targets for cardiovascular disease.
The expansion builds on an existing collaboration between the companies in kidney disease. Variant Bio said it is eligible for an additional upfront payment and potential license and milestone payments that could bring the value of the expanded agreement to more than $250 million.
The companies did not disclose the size of the additional upfront payment, the structure or timing of potential license and milestone payments, specific cardiovascular conditions covered by the research, or the number of targets included in the agreement.
Variant Bio will use its Inference platform, which combines genomic data, deep-phenotyping information and multi-omic data from studies involving geographically diverse populations. The company said the platform employs large language models, machine learning and statistical genetics to analyze genetic associations and identify therapeutic hypotheses.
The collaboration will focus on potential cardiovascular-disease targets supported by human genetic evidence. Boehringer Ingelheim will contribute disease-area expertise in cardiovascular and kidney conditions.
Cardiovascular and kidney diseases are biologically interconnected, and the partnership will extend the companies’ work across those related therapeutic areas.
Variant Bio is a Seattle-based genomics-driven drug-discovery company. The company said its platform is designed to assess large genomic and related datasets to move from genetic association findings toward target validation.
The announcement did not identify any specific drug candidate, target, development stage or clinical program arising from the collaboration.
The agreement gives Boehringer Ingelheim continued access to Variant Bio’s target-discovery capabilities as the companies pursue potential cardiovascular therapies. Payments to Variant Bio depend on the agreement’s licensing and development milestones.
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