Boehringer Ingelheim and Tessellate Bio Partner to Develop Treatments for Hard-to-Treat Cancers

Boehringer Ingelheim has announced a collaboration with Tessellate Bio, to develop a new class of targeted therapies for patients with hard-to-treat cancers. The agreement, potentially worth over €500 million, underscores the growing innovation in precision oncology.

Boehringer Ingelheim and Tessellate Bio have entered into a research collaboration and global license agreement to develop first-in-class precision therapies targeting ALT-positive cancers, which affect up to 15% of patients and lack effective treatments. Leveraging Tessellate’s synthetic lethality approach, the collaboration aims to deliver targeted, oral drugs that spare healthy cells.

Under the terms of the agreement, Tessellate Bio is entitled to receive near term payments including an upfront license fee, research funding, and technical milestone payments, as well as downstream success-based milestones, with an overall deal value in excess of €500 million.

“We look forward to working with Tessellate Bio’s team of scientists to develop innovative cancer treatments based on their synthetic lethality approach targeting ALT positive tumors," said Lamine Mbow, Global Head of Discovery Research at Boehringer Ingelheim. “This new collaboration complements our oncology research portfolio and further reinforces our commitment to transforming the lives of people living with cancer.”

Tessellate Bio has developed inhibitors of an undisclosed target that plays a key role in enabling the uncontrolled growth of ALT positive cancer cells. Blocking this target has been shown to lead to increased DNA damage, replication stress and ultimately tumor cell death, specifically in ALT positive tumor cells. A clear benefit is that healthy cells are not affected because they have no dependency on this mechanism.

Andree Blaukat, CEO, Tessellate Bio said, “This is our first pharma collaboration, and we believe that Boehringer Ingelheim is the ideal partner to advance this innovative program to benefit patients with ALT positive cancers. The company has a proven commitment to oncology and the agreement aligns with our collaborative strategy for bringing new targeted treatment options based on the concept of synthetic lethality to patients across a wider range of cancers.”  

The deal also highlights Boehringer Ingelheim’s growing ambition in oncology. While traditionally known for its work in respiratory diseases and cardiovascular care, the company has been steadily expanding its cancer research footprint, committing substantial resources to immuno-oncology, cancer cell signaling, and now synthetic lethality.

Tessellate Bio was launched with support from renowned cancer researchers Hilda Pickett and Roger Reddell in Australia, and Claus Azzalin in Portugal. Their discoveries around telomere biology laid the foundation for Tessellate’s approach. Backed by top-tier European biotech investors such as BioGeneration Ventures and Forbion, the company has quickly established itself as a pioneer in the ALT space.