Boehringer Ingelheim has struck an agreement to advance Rectify Pharmaceuticals’ preclinical program to develop treatments for chronic kidney disease (CKD) and other conditions.
Under the deal, Boehringer will leverage Rectify’s positive functional modulators (PFM) platform to develop oral, small molecules that enhance ABCC6 protein function and reduce calcification, which is a key disease driver of cardiorenal dysfunction in CKD.
Rectify’s PFMs are designed to restore and enhance membrane protein function. In addition to CKD, the company’s PFM program also includes aortic valve stenosis as another indication.
The Boston-based company is using its PFM platform to develop therapies that target a family of ABC transporters, an approach previously limited to cystic fibrosis.
Related: “It Takes 2” with Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly as They Spotlight Kidney Health
As part of the deal with Boehringer, in addition to an upfront payment, Rectify will have an earning potential of up to $448 million through preclinical, clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, along with tiered royalties on future product sales.
According to information from Rectify in the press release announcing the Boehringer collaboration, CKD affects about one in ten adults worldwide, or approximately 850 million people. The condition often leads to serious complications such as vascular calcification and increased cardiovascular risk.
ABCC6 plays a central role in systemic anti-calcification by regulating levels of inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi), which blocks calcification. In CKD, as well as rare genetic disorders such as pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) and generalized arterial calcification of infancy (GACI), ABCC6 protein levels are reduced, leading to diminished PPi, progressive vascular calcification and heightened cardiovascular risk.
Rectify explains that its orally active PFMs have shown the possibility to restore or enhance mutated or wild-type ABCC6 protein function and have the potential to address the pathologic calcification that leads to disease progression in CKD, PXE and GACI.
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“Rectify’s collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim validates the potential of our PFM platform to enhance wild-type protein function to address underlying disease biology, opening the door to large, common disease opportunities like chronic kidney disease (CKD) that affect millions of people,” said Rajesh Devraj, PhD, CEO and president of Rectify, in the announcement.
Søren Tullin, global head of Cardiovascular-Renal-Metabolic Diseases Research at Boehringer Ingelheim, said: “Rectify’s PFM platform offers a differentiated approach to developing disease-modifying treatments that target fundamental drivers of cardiorenal dysfunction. The ability to enhance ABCC6 function and reduce calcification opens new possibilities for patients with CKD and other diseases where calcification is a key pathology. We are excited to work with Rectify’s scientists to deliver much-needed new treatments to people living with CKD and other diseases.”
Rectify was launched in 2021 with $100 million in backing from investors, including Atlas Venture.
For Boehringer, Rectify’s program bolsters Boehringer’s R&D efforts in a key therapeutic area. The company currently already has a blockbuster in the market with Jardiance (empagliflozin), which was approved for CKD in 2023. Boehringer co-markets Jardiance with Eli Lilly.
Boehringer’s CKD pipeline includes the Phase III aldosterone synthase inhibitor vicadrostat, for which Boehringer began enrolling the first of an anticipated 11,000 patients last year.
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