Boehringer Ingelheim makes many of its best molecules openly available to the scientific community via opnMe.com to unlock their full potential

Ingelheim, Germany – November 20, 2017 – Boehringer Ingelheim today announced the launch of opnME.com, a new platform offering free and open access to selected pre-clinical molecules for non-clinical investigation  to scientists worldwide. Through opnME.com, molecules for some of the most relevant targets in biomedical research are shared, thereby creating possibilities for further independent and collaborative discovery as well as the identification of novel treatment approaches for patients.

“Working together with scientists across the world, we can accelerate research in a wide range of biomedical research areas,“ said Clive R. Wood, Ph.D., Senior Corporate Vice President, Discovery Research at Boehringer Ingelheim. “This exciting new initiative further expands Boehringer Ingelheim’s global external innovation footprint and will help unlock the full potential of some of our most interesting compounds. By sharing these compounds with scientists around the world, we will advance scientific research and expect to spark discoveries that will lead to safe and effective new medicines for patients.”                          

The molecules on opnMe.com are divided in two groups, offered under different conditions:

• The majority of molecules are offered without entering into intellectual property discussions via a simple shopping cart system.
• For selected molecules a crowdsourcing option offers the opportunity to initiate joint research projects. Scientists interested in such molecules for collaboration are invited to submit a research proposal. If the proposal is selected, the science will be developed together with Boehringer Ingelheim scientists.

This launch is part of Boehringer Ingelheim’s ongoing mission to further scientific research and medical progress through collaboration and innovation. Other initiatives include Research Beyond Borders and the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund. They are part of the company’s long-standing and continuing work in core therapeutic areas of Cardiometabolic Diseases, Respiratory Diseases, Oncology, CNS Diseases and Immunology.

Clive Wood added, “I invite interested scientists worldwide to visit opnMe.com to access our molecules. We will measure the success of this initiative in terms of new experiments, publications and relationships forged. This approach to open innovation reflects our determination to break down barriers to the advancement of biomedical research and bring breakthrough medicines to patients.”

About Boehringer Ingelheim 
Innovative medicines for people and animals have for more than 130 years been what the research-driven pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim stands for. Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the pharmaceutical industry’s top 20 companies and to this day remains family-owned. Day by day, some 50,000 employees create value through innovation for the three business areas human pharmaceuticals, animal health and biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing. In 2016, Boehringer Ingelheim achieved net sales of around 15.9 billion euros. With more than three billion euros, R&D expenditure corresponds to 19.6 per cent of net sales.

Social responsibility comes naturally to Boehringer Ingelheim. That is why the company is involved in social projects such as the “Making More Health” initiative. Boehringer Ingelheim also actively promotes workforce diversity and benefits from its employees’ different experiences and skills. Furthermore, the focus is on environmental protection and sustainability in everything the company does.

More information about Boehringer Ingelheim can be found on www.boehringer-ingelheim.com or in our annual report: http://annualreport.boehringer-ingelheim.com.