Boehringer Ingelheim, BioMed X start project to identify new treatment approaches for psychiatric diseases

A new research team of scientists established by the companies had submitted the most promising solution approaches in a crowdsourcing competition.

The interdisciplinary team, which will be led by Michal Slezak, will develop a brain microcircuit model to generate novel therapeutic approaches for psychiatric diseases.

The model features authentic neuronal and non-neuronal cells and assists functional readouts with throughput for drug discovery.

The research team will be situated in the BioMed X Innovation Center located on the campus of the University of Heidelberg, Germany.

Boehringer Ingelheim corporate senior vice president and head of discovery research Clive Wood said: "We are excited about applying the innovative approach of crowdsourcing to harness the creativity of the scientific community and combine it with our internal research and development capabilities, to discover the next generation of medicines for patients with psychiatric diseases who currently have insufficient treatment options.

"Our scientists will work closely with the new team we are establishing with our partner BioMed X, thereby further supporting our ambition to be an innovation leader in psychiatric diseases."

Boehringer Ingelheim will sponsor the research team for two years with the option to extend the funding period for a total of four years.

The project builds on success of Boehringer Ingelheim’s earlier project focused on epigenetic drivers of COPD.