Boehringer Ingelheim bolsters veterinary pipeline with Saiba acquisition

Boehringer Ingelheim has acquired Saiba Animal Health (SAH) AG after years of partnership on projects related to animal-vaccine development and platform technologies. The acquisition bolsters Boehringer Ingelheim’s research and development (R&D) pipeline in pet therapeutics.

SAH began as a spin-off company from the University of Zürich, Switzerland and has since gone on to develop animal health vaccines, including its HypoCat vaccine, which seeks to neutralize the allergen in cats that causes a reaction in some humans. The company received an R&D project grant from the Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation to advance its work on that therapeutic. The pipeline also lists products designed to treat other allergies as well as chronic pain, cancer, and infectious disease.

Boehringer Ingelheim said it seeks to strengthen SAH’s pipeline. “The objective of the acquisition is to transition new disease concepts into clinical development that enables fast access of the patients to the new treatment options,” Nora Aji, a spokesperson from Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, told BioProcess Insider. “We are currently exploring how we will prioritize the pipeline targets for further development.”

With the acquisition, Boehringer Ingelheim also secures access to SAH’s modular production process for virus-like particles (VLP) vaccines. SAH states that the production process has been adapted for GMP manufacturing and that it can be scaled to meet market needs. With SAH’s products still early in development, decisions related to supply-chain design and product prices have not yet been made.

“We rely on a strong global network consisting of both our own production sites and external contract manufacturing and distribution partners,” said Aji. “This makes it possible to manage global supply in a flexible way, so we can respond to changes of market demand and local patient needs, keeping prices stable and reasonably affordable. Boehringer’s deep-rooted purpose is to transform lives for generations; and by this we want to ensure our patients (humans or animals) have a fair access to health care and resources, regardless of their circumstances.”

According to Boehringer Ingelheim, SAH’s technology platform uses a therapeutic vaccine approach that is designed to target chronic diseases and reduce allergies, inflammation, and pain. Aji said “The advantage of the vaccine platform is the versatility, enabling use in several indications, especially in addressing chronic diseases in pets. Compared to direct application of antibodies, it is expected that the patient will need less frequent treatments because of the long duration of action. This will increase convenience and compliance for the pet owners.”

“Our pets live longer which creates different needs for their medical care, and often without good existing treatment options”, said Eric Haaksma, head of global innovation, Animal Health at Boehringer Ingelheim. “As a research-driven company, we are very excited about the potential of Saiba Animal Health’s groundbreaking technology platform, which could result in a more specific and longer-lasting therapeutic response to chronic diseases in companion animals than current approaches.”

Boehringer Ingelheim and SAH had collaborated for years before the acquisition. SAH announced an out-licensing agreement with the former company in 2023, after previous partnership agreements in 2022 and 2020.

The personnel structure at SAH will remain fully intact after the merger. Aji said, “We are pleased to gain the talents and expertise of colleagues from Saiba Animal Health. They will remain for the foreseeable future in their current premises in Zürich, Switzerland.”

When BioProcess Insider reached out to Gary Jennings, CEO of Saiba Animal Health, he told us it would be “business as usual.”