Boehringer, Envisagenics sign $1B multi-target oncology collaboration

Biotech Boehringer, Envisagenics sign $1B multi-target oncology collaboration By Will Maddox Sep 22, 2026 8:00am Boehringer Ingelheim Bristol Myers Squibb ALS Johnson & Johnson Boehringer Ingelheim and AI drug discovery company Envisagenics have agreed to a potential $1 billion multi-year pact that will task Boehringer with validating tumor-specific targets. The German biopharma is interested in leveraging New York-based Envisagenics’ artificial intelligence platform, SpliceCore, which focuses on RNA splicing. Though Envisagenics didn’t share further payment details, co-founder and CEO Maria Pineda, Ph.D., told Fierce the upfront and milestone payments will be used to take its lead internal CNS candidate into the clinic.

SpliceCore leverages artificial intelligence and large-scale transcriptomics to screen more than 14 million splicing events and prioritize potential targets, while predicting disease specificity, patient prevalence and therapeutic suitability. Many diseases are caused when genes splice proteins that are malformed or dysfunctional. The technology uses alternative RNA splicing to focus on highly tumor-specific targets and is designed to distinguish cancer cells from healthy tissue.

The pact gives Boehringer the chance to analyze previously identified targets and validate therapeutic potential for antibody-drug conjugates, T-cell engagers and multi-specific antibodies. “If you identify an RNA splicing isoform or protein that is only present in tumors and in cancer, then the protein isoform has a unique region and is very clean in normal tissues,” Pineda told Fierce. “By being absent or not expressed at all in normal tissues, it makes it safe for patients to receive a drug.

It’s a wider therapeutic window to decrease those off-target effects compared to throwing a dart at the sky.” The pact builds on previous SpliceCore oncology-focused collaborations with Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson and Biogen. New partner Boehringer Ingelheim will have the option to exclusively license selected targets for further development and commercialization. “We're both aligned, not only on the innovation side of things but also in the fact that we're interested in developing novel therapeutics,” Pineda added.

“Boehringer is such a good fit because they have key expertise across novel modalities like ADCs, TCEs and multi-specific antibody modalities, which is the type of chemistry that will complement Envisagenics.” Boehringer previously signed a $15 million oncology and autoimmune AI partnership with Immunai in June 2025 to discover targets on dysfunctional T cells, following another deal with OpenProtein.AI to develop specialized antibodies. “Growing innovation together with partners is central to how we build our oncology pipeline,” said Mark Petronczki, global head of oncology research at Boehringer Ingelheim. “Alternative RNA splicing offers access to a largely unexplored target space, and Envisagenics has built a distinctive capability to investigate it.” Envisagenics’ core technology was invented in the same lab where the spinal muscular atrophy blockbuster Spinraza was invented.

The drug became the first FDA-approved RNA therapeutic to treat the disease by correcting the disease-causing splicing error. The funds from the partnership will be used to advance Envisagenics’ platform and internal pipeline, which were also developed with SpliceCore and range in potential indications from CNS to oncology. Pineda highlighted ENV-375, a preclinical asset for ALS patients, as a program that would benefit from the partnership by moving into the clinic.

Looking ahead, Envisagenics plans to balance platform partnerships with its internal development candidates, while keeping partnerships at any stage on the table. Pineda said the deal also gives the company a runway to pursue potential commercialization of other internal programs, scale the company and find financing partners for its next raise. “We will continue to build programs internally until we find the right partner and the right fit," she said.

"Because the ultimate goal for me is getting to meaningful new therapies for patients that urgently need them.” Boehringer Ingelheim Bristol Myers Squibb ALS Johnson & Johnson Envisagenics AI and Machine Learning Deals Biotech