Boehringer Ingelheim Awards Innovation Prize to Ablevia
Boehringer Ingelheim has awarded the Innovation Prize Vienna 2024 to Ablevia, a biotech company founded in 2018. Ablevia develops innovative solutions to eliminate harmful antibodies. For a time, it will be offered free office and lab space in the Vienna BioCenter start-up lab incubator along with access to Boehringer Ingelheim expertise. This support offers the young company valuable resources for the further development of its promising research.
The Boehringer Ingelheim Innovation Prize was established in 2015 and is awarded to outstanding life science start-ups worldwide. The prize has also been awarded in Austria since 2020. “The Innovation Prize is designed to promote the latest technologies and innovative research in the life science community,” says Guido Boehmelt, Head of Research Beyond Borders at Boehringer Ingelheim Vienna.
“Ablevia is an outstanding example of the type of applied research that we like to support. It has developed an extremely innovative approach that could be the answer to a very important problem that arises frequently in the development and clinical use of biologics. The jury was impressed by the breadth of possible applications, which Ablevia supported by convincing data.”
Immune regulation as key to new therapy
The repeated administration of biologics can cause immune responses to the drugs, leading to the formation of anti-drug antibodies (ADAs). A significant proportion of the population already carries antibodies against viral gene therapy and oncolysis vectors, while patients reliant on enzyme or protein substitution therapy often develop antibodies against these very drugs. The formation of such antibodies can diminish the effectiveness of biologics.
The start-up Ablevia was founded in 2018 at the Vienna BioCenter. The company developed peptide-based compounds called SADC (selective antibody depletion compounds), capable of creating an ADA-free window for therapy.
“I should like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude. It is a great honor to be recognized by Boehringer Ingelheim in this way,” says Oskar Smrzka. “We believe that our approach of selective and rapid elimination of damaging and unwanted antibodies could help patients in many therapeutic areas, from the preclinical testing of human biotherapeutics on animals to the treatment of rare diseases and cancer. The company is committed to continuously improving the safety and efficacy of biotherapeutics for patients with ADA problems and to facilitating access to gene therapy,” says Smrzka, the founder of Ablevia.
Christof Paparella and Oskar Smrzka from Ablevia, Guido Boehmelt, Head of Research Beyond Borders at Boehringer Ingelheim Vienna in the middle
Valuable support through mentoring and infrastructure
Apart from the provision of office and lab space, the prizewinners will benefit from an intensive mentoring program by researchers and managers at Boehringer Ingelheim. “Our grass roots innovation initiatives are designed to help young companies to develop their products for market launch. We not only support them with necessary resources but also offer expert knowledge gathered from our global research and development networks,” says Boehmelt.
Since 2015 over thirty companies worldwide have received the Innovation Prize worth more than 1.5 million euros. Ablevia is the latest recipient to benefit from collaboration with a research-driven pharmaceutical company.
Contacts
Matthias Sturm
Head of Corporate Affairs & Corporate Brand
Spokesperson
E-Mail:
oeffentlichkeitsarbeit@boehringer-ingelheim.at
Telefonnummer:
+43 1 80105-2742