- New deal builds on the success of a longstanding partnership in retinal health and the potential of CDR-Life’s unique antibody fragment-based platform
- Agreement provides potential for up to approx. USD 570 million in total payments including approx. USD 48 million in upfront and near-term payments, plus tiered royalties
Ingelheim, Germany and Zurich, Switzerland – November 4, 2025 – Boehringer Ingelheim and CDR-Life, Inc. today announced a new global licensing agreement to develop CDR-Life’s unique antibody based molecule CDR111 for autoimmune diseases. CDR111 is a trispecific M-gager®, an antibody-based T-cell engager designed to selectively target and deplete B cells, with the goal of achieving immune system reset.
Dysregulated B cells play a central role in driving many autoimmune and inflammatory conditions such as lupus, multiple sclerosis and certain forms of arthritis. Therefore, an approach that can deeply deplete these cells could have broad and far-reaching potential across multiple indications.
The agreement builds on the companies’ successful collaboration on an investigational antibody fragment. Boehringer has developed this molecule with technology licensed from CDR-Life, with the goal of preserving vision in people living with geographic atrophy (GA). It is currently being investigated in the VERDANT™ Phase 2 trial (NCT06722157).
“Our expanded collaboration with Boehringer underscores the growing recognition of our platform’s ability to design high quality biologics that may translate into meaningful therapeutic advances,” said Christian Leisner, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of CDR-Life. “Having already demonstrated encouraging clinical progress together in GA, this new agreement further validates the versatility of our T-cell engager technology, and we are excited to see Boehringer advance CDR111 toward the clinic.”
“We are excited to expand upon our work with CDR-Life and apply their trispecific M-gager approach to autoimmune and inflammatory diseases with high unmet need, further broadening our differentiated pipeline,” said Carine Boustany, US Innovation Unit Site Head and Global Head of Immunology and Respiratory Diseases at Boehringer Ingelheim. “We see strong potential for CDR111 to demonstrate a deep and durable immune reset that may deliver transformative options for patients living with serious autoimmune disease.”
Under the terms of the agreement, CDR-Life is eligible for up to a total of CHF 456 million (approximately USD 570 million) in payments including CHF 38 million (approximately USD 48 million) in upfront and near-term payments, plus tiered royalties on future sales.
About Boehringer Ingelheim
Boehringer Ingelheim is a biopharmaceutical company active in both human and animal health. As one of the industry’s top investors in research and development, the company focuses on developing innovative therapies that can improve and extend lives in areas of high unmet medical need. Independent since its foundation in 1885, Boehringer takes a long-term perspective, embedding sustainability along the entire value chain. Our approximately 54,500 employees serve over 130 markets to build a healthier and more sustainable tomorrow. Learn more at www.boehringer-Ingelheim.com.
About CDR-Life
CDR-Life develops highly targeted T cell engagers (TCEs) for the treatment of solid cancers and autoimmune diseases. Our M-gager® platform delivers TCEs against challenging but clean targets through unparalleled binding-specificity. With our first oncology program now in clinical trials, we are advancing a pipeline of potent and selective TCE therapeutics. Our longstanding partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim on a molecule derived from our M-gager® platform, now in Phase 2, demonstrates the potential of our antibody-derived molecules. Backed by leading cross-Atlantic investors, our team is committed to bringing life-changing, disease-modifying medicines to patients globally. Learn more at www.cdr-life.com.
Boehringer Ingelheim Contact:
Dr. Reinhard Malin
Boehringer Ingelheim Corporate Center GmbH
Innovation Unit/Bio Comms, Corp. Affairs
Media + PR
press@boehringer-ingelheim.com
CDR-Life Contacts:
Media:
Lauren Arnold
LA Communications
Lauren@lacommunications.net
Investors:
Christian Leisner, CEO
CDR-Life Inc.
Christian.leisner@cdr-life.com
