Got questions about opnMe®?

opnMe® is built on three collaborative pillars: Molecules for collaboration, opn2EXPERTS for molecular biology or pharmacology questions and techMATCH for technology partnerships. With all our collaborative opportunities, our goal is expand our scientific network with experts from across the world that provide novel and relevant angles to contemporary research questions.

We welcome proposals from scientists around the world with very different backgrounds from either academia, startups, biotechs, or even larger enterprises such as device or pharmaceutical companies. We expect you to have access to a laboratory setting for carrying out the studies you propose in your submission and the ability to implement those ideas. We can also only accept proposals if they are provided using our respective submission templates.

You can expect appropriate funding for the collaboration period, should your proposal become selected by our review team. The funding would cover direct and indirect costs, and should be within the range that is defined for each individual call. Usually, you should expect funding in the range of 80,000 up to 200,000 euros for opn2EXPERTS and Molecule for collaboration calls for a maximum period of two years. Please refer to the specific calls’ sections for guidance on the exact funding amounts and other benefits offered.

For techMATCH calls, winning proposals can expect appropriate funding that will help them to bring their conceptual idea to the next level whereby we assume that increasing complexity and maturity of the proposed solution may require different budget terms that would be negotiated with the selected partners individually.

Mutually agreeable partner rights & obligations (including intellectual property rights) will be negotiated in our collaboration agreements and provide full transparency on IP ownership. As part of the agreement, you will be encouraged to publish following the collaboration agreement (to be negotiated in good faith).

We highly recommend using our answer submission template to provide a 3-4-page non-confidential proposal plus potential references. The document consists of a “general” part that requires the contact details of the submitting scientist(s) and their organization(s). In addition, an “answer part” which allows the structured entry of your suggested approach to address our question.

While evaluating each proposal, our scientific review committees consider how it aligns with the in-scope/out-of-scope criteria and key success criteria outlined in detail for each call on opnMe, including:

• A well-structured proposal outlining a new and compelling scientific idea.
• A novel, testable working hypothesis distinct from those previously published.
• Framing the questions and the innovation aspects that includes a well thought-through project plan with key decision points and budget requirements.
• Proven record of accomplishment in the required field of expertise.
• Outlining the technical feasibility of the innovative proposed approach.
• The quality and feasibility of potentially existing data and/or the experimental plan that will be used to test the hypothesis.
• Ability to carry out the proposed project and access to required technology and laboratory settings.

In case you have a technology-related idea that does not fit any of our active calls, you have the chance to use our techMATCH Innovation Collector. You will find this feature on our techMATCH page. Please kindly fill out your details and upload any non-confidential slide decks or materials you wish to provide.

• Privileged access to highly characterized and cutting-edge pharmacology molecules
• Direct support from experienced Boehringer Ingelheim drug discovery scientists
• Initial enabling funding might be available with the potential for follow-on collaborations
• Possibility of publishing novel connections of biological mechanisms to human disease using unique reagents

We release these compounds for specific projects to test novel therapeutic hypotheses. The proposals are evaluated by Boehringer Ingelheim scientists and the selected ideas are normally pursued through a joint collaboration. Initial proposals should be short and address the following areas to allow rapid evaluation of your ideas. The submitted proposal must not contain any confidential data.

• Overview of the proposal originator and the organization(s) it represents
• Medical need
• Scientific rationale [supported by key references]
• Target-to-disease link
• Therapeutic hypothesis to be tested
• Test systems available and information on their suitability
• Key decision-making data to support project progression
• Projected timelines to decision points
  A graphical representation of the experimental plan
• Information on potential conflicting intellectual property rights of third parties and freedom to operate
• Initial funding request

A template provided by us will help you to compile the information required.

If confidential data exists that would strengthen the proposal, you may indicate that confidential information is available to share under a Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA). If we find the non‐confidential concept proposal sufficiently interesting, we will execute a CDA for confidential discussions.

Funding is potentially available to kick-start projects. Research proposals are evaluated by Boehringer Ingelheim scientists for strategic fit and are considered for funding on a competitive basis.

Boehringer Ingelheim scientists with relevant expertise will make an initial evaluation of your collaboration proposal within 4 weeks. Should there be mutual interest in proceeding with the compound request, you will usually be contacted by a Boehringer Ingelheim scientist to discuss the research plan in more detail and to understand how we can best support your idea. The timeframe for collaboration start will be different for each collaboration.

Yes, all molecules that can be ordered on opnMe.com (Molecules to order) will be shipped free of charge. This means we cover the costs of synthesis and shipping up to your bench. For shipments outside of Europe, we have to provide a pro-forma value for our molecules to meet international customs regulations. The value of 2,16 €/mg is declared for customs purpose only. Please note that local custom fees may apply and we advise you to check with your local authorities. In case of questions, please contact us for further information.

Sufficient compound will be provided to test the new therapeutic concept as outlined in the agreed research plan.

The IP rights will be pre-negotiated as part of the contracting arrangements between Boehringer Ingelheim and your institution.

These molecules are also released with a comprehensive data package describing potency on designated target, selectivity information versus other targets and pharmacokinetic characterization. In the first instance, these structures are not released. This allows us to make unique compounds from ongoing projects available to the community much earlier than has previously been possible.

These tool compounds highly characterized with respect to potency, selectivity and pharmacokinetics. They are suitable for in vivo preclinical studies and guidelines are available to advise on species previously tested, dose selection, dose regimen, and formulation.

No. We aim to make unique tool compounds available at a very early stage as the biology is evolving; hence, the compounds will not have been subject to a comprehensive safety evaluation. They are provided as experimental tools for in vitro and in vivo studies and should be treated appropriately according to the practices within your institute.

If you would like to modify and re-upload your proposal, the easiest way would be to start a new submission process and submit your updated proposal that way. Please let us know of the initial proposal ID that you would like to retract, so we can delete it accordingly from our system and only consider your updated proposal for the evaluation process.

With our latest opnMe call, we offer a collection of ~ 900 human samples from the 1,000 Genomes Project sequenced using Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT) free of charge and sharing it with data scientists across the globe to foster open science. The data set is unique as the usage of the ONT reads allows the distinction between DNA methylation and hydroxy-methylation patterns, two major methylation states. This allows to address specific questions related to both types of DNA methylations, linking them to quantitative trait loci and pathological disease mechanisms. Access to this unique dataset with a size of 550 TB will be provided to a limited number of successful applications, depending on the quality of their proposals. Data will be shared based on an open access creative commons license (CC BY-NC 4.0). Of note is that all results obtained with this dataset will be fully owned by the respective data analysts and we encourage to publish results independently.

To request access to the ONT dataset from the 1,000 Genomes Project that comprises of ~ 900 human samples, please share your proposal using our submission template, describing your data analytics plan. All incoming proposals will be evaluated after the final submission date, September 19, and, upon approval, the whole data package will be made available to chosen applicants. Please note that the resulting data package has a size of 550 TB and will be shared in one run. Access to an appropriate data management infrastructure to host a large data set and to process it will be a requisite to participate in this call.

Please use our answer submission template to provide a 3 - 4 page non-confidential proposal (available for download on the following site).

If confidential data exists that would strengthen the proposal, please indicate that information is available to share under a Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA). If we find the non-confidential concept proposal sufficiently interesting, we will execute a CDA for confidential discussions.

• A well-structured proposal outlining a novel approach that includes usage of our data.
• The proposal should contain only non-confidential information of your intended research objectives, proposed analysis, anticipated timelines, and planned start of the project.
• Please note that analyses using the data library must commence within the next 12 months to become eligible for this opnMe call.
• Any proposals focusing on target identification and disease understanding would be preferred.
• Access to long term storage with capacity for data sharing and backup. Proposals that further dissemination of the data publicly will be prioritized.
• The proposal and resulting publications should acknowledge Boehringer Ingelheim as the owner of the data.
• Please note that anyone using the material must provide credit to the original authors and indicate any changes that were made (CC-BY-NC 4.0).

Yes. Boehringer Ingelheim covers all costs of the initial data transfer.

As part of this call, no additional budgetary funding will be provided. Rather, we intend to incentivize innovative data analyses by providing our rich dataset free of charge.

Boehringer Ingelheim scientists with relevant expertise will start with the review of all incoming proposals after the final submission date on September 19, 2024. We aim to finalize our review by end of October 2024.

No. Applications will be shared inside Boehringer Ingelheim amongst a team of scientists for the sole purpose of reviewing the proposals. Any submissions will not be visible to, or shared with, scientists from other institutions.

There is no obligation to share any data with us, however, resulting publications should acknowledge Boehringer Ingelheim as the owner of the data. Please cite opnMe.com if you publish any studies using our data using the following copy: „opnMe - Boehringer Ingelheim Open Innovation Portal. 2024. Boehringer Ingelheim International. [Available at https://www.opnme.com/, last accessed: [“Enter date”].”

All IP generated based on the proposed research project remains with you.

• Scientists within Boehringer Ingelheim Discovery Research define the individual questions. We plan to share either biological or technical questions for only a short period of time during which we invite scientific experts from around the world to submit novel solutions and apply with a collaboration proposal.
• After this period, questions may remain published on opnMe.com. This is to allow scientists to contact us also at a later stage, should they come up with innovative ideas.
• The questions may have a strong practical component. Hence practical laboratory experience and access to a laboratory may be required in most instances in order to be selected as a winner of a call.

• You can expect appropriate funding for the subsequent collaboration with us, should your proposed answer be selected by our research teams. The funding would cover direct and indirect costs. In case all requirements are met, you can expect funding of up to 200,000 euros.
• Close interaction and support from experienced Boehringer Ingelheim drug discovery scientists.
• The opportunity for a funded stay at Boehringer Ingelheim for technology exchange / training may be available, as is the access to custom biological tools and reagents.
• Our collaboration agreement will provide full transparency about each partner’s rights & obligations (including intellectual property rights).
• As part of the agreement, you will be encouraged to publish according to the collaboration agreement (to be negotiated in good faith).
• The winner may be announced publicly in social networks and on the opnMe.com website.

• We highly recommend using our answer submission template to provide a 2-3 page non-confidential proposal plus potential references. The document consists of a “general” part that requires the contact details of the submitting scientists and their organizations. In addition, an “answer part” which allows the structured entry of your suggested approach to address our question.
• The scientist with the right answer may bring a specific technical expertise in his or her discipline that provides an answer to our question from a different, potentially unexpected angle. Hence, the scientific background might be different from the area of the question. Your expertise should be documented by key references and publications.
• Experts not directly linked to the subject or the field of the therapeutic domain are also highly encouraged to apply if they consider their solutions new or innovative for the question.
• Active access to a laboratory and the ability to implement the idea is required for this question.

Our aim is to find scientists with a novel idea to address our questions. We offer funding for collaboration with the winning scientists of our call.

All incoming answers are evaluated by Boehringer Ingelheim scientists and the selected ideas are normally pursued through a joint collaboration. Initial answers should be short and address the following areas to allow rapid evaluation of your ideas. The submitted proposal must not contain any confidential data. The following information is highly encouraged

• Title of the innovative idea
• Rephrasing of the question to be solved and outline of the answer including innovative aspects
• Information about potentially existing test systems and preliminary data
• Proposed collaboration project plan with key decision points
• Initial funding request
• Information on potential conflicting intellectual property rights of third parties and freedom to operate
• References

A template provided by us will help you to compile the information required.

We are seeking research collaboration proposals that contain:

• A well-structured proposal outlining a new and compelling scientific idea.
• A novel, testable working hypothesis distinct from those previously published.
• Framing the questions and the innovation aspects that includes a well thought-through project plan with key decision points and budget requirements.
• Proven record of accomplishment in the required field of expertise.
• Outlining the technical feasibility of the innovative proposed approach.
• The quality and feasibility of potentially existing data and/or the experimental plan that will be used to test the hypothesis.

If confidential data exists that would strengthen the proposal, you may indicate that confidential information is available to share under a Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA). If we find the non-confidential concept proposal sufficiently interesting, we will execute a CDA for confidential discussions.

You can expect appropriate funding for the collaboration period should your proposal become selected by our review team. In case all conditions of the call are met, you can apply for funding of up to 200,000 euros.

Boehringer Ingelheim scientists with relevant expertise will provide you with an evaluation of your collaboration proposal within 6 weeks after the submission deadline of the individual question. Should there be mutual interest in proceeding with the proposed answer, you would be contacted by a Boehringer Ingelheim scientist to discuss the research plan in more detail and to understand how we can best support your idea. The timeframe for the start of a collaboration may be different for each collaboration.

No. Applications will be shared inside Boehringer Ingelheim amongst a team of scientists designated to evaluate proposals for potential funding. They will not be visible to, or shared with, scientists from other institutions.

Our collaboration agreement will provide full transparency about each partner’s rights & obligations (including intellectual property rights). As part of the agreement, you will be encouraged to publish following the collaboration agreement (to be negotiated in good faith).

If you would like to modify and re-upload your proposal, the easiest way would be to start a new submission process and submit your updated proposal that way. Please let us know of the initial proposal ID that you would like to retract, so we can delete it accordingly from our system and only consider your updated proposal for the evaluation process.

• Scientists within Boehringer Ingelheim Discovery Research define the individual questions. We plan to share either biological or technical questions for only a short period of time during which we invite scientific experts from around the world to submit novel solutions and apply with a collaboration proposal.
• After this period, questions may remain published on opnMe.com. This is to allow scientists to contact us also at a later stage, should they come up with innovative ideas.
• The questions may have a strong practical component. Hence practical laboratory experience and access to a laboratory may be required in most instances in order to be selected as a winner of a call.

• The winner of this call can expect research funding of up to USD 80,000. Upon completion of the project, the actual costs of the project will be reconciliated versus estimated expenses and any unused funds should be returned to us. In the event the actual expenses are greater than the estimated expenses in the project budget, we will not be liable to pay the difference between the actual expenses and the estimated expenses.
• All results and all IP therein generated by the researcher will be jointly owned by the researcher´s institute and Boehringer Ingelheim. Each party may freely use the results, without further obligations to the other party. At the same time, we suggest that the parties agree that in order to contribute to the advancement of science for the benefit of the public and to allow the scientific community and industry to use any results following joint publication, they will abstain from pursuing exclusive intellectual property protection with respect to any results. In particular, neither party shall file for a patent right pertaining to any results anywhere in the world and in any field.
• As a winner of the mechanochemistry call, you will be encouraged to publish your results.
• The winner may be announced publicly in social networks and on the opnMe.com website.

• We highly recommend using our answer submission template to provide a 2-3 page non-confidential proposal plus potential references. The document consists of a “general” part that requires the contact details of the submitting scientists and their organizations. In addition, an “answer part” which allows the structured entry of your suggested approach to address our question.
• The scientist with the right answer may bring a specific technical expertise in his or her discipline that provides an answer to our question from a different, potentially unexpected angle. Hence, the scientific background might be different from the area of the question. Your expertise should be documented by key references and publications.
• Experts not directly linked to the subject or the field of the therapeutic domain are also highly encouraged to apply if they consider their solutions new or innovative for the question.
• Active access to a laboratory and the ability to implement the idea is required for this question.

Our aim is to find scientists with a novel idea to address our questions. We offer funding for collaboration with the winning scientists of our call.

All incoming answers are evaluated by Boehringer Ingelheim scientists and the selected ideas are normally pursued through a joint collaboration. Initial answers should be short and address the following areas to allow rapid evaluation of your ideas. The submitted proposal must not contain any confidential data. The following information is highly encouraged

• Title of the innovative idea
• Rephrasing of the question to be solved and outline of the answer including innovative aspects
• Information about potentially existing test systems and preliminary data
• Proposed collaboration project plan with key decision points
• Initial funding request
• Information on potential conflicting intellectual property rights of third parties and freedom to operate
• References

A template provided by us will help you to compile the information required.

We are seeking research collaboration proposals that contain:

• A well-structured proposal outlining a new and compelling scientific idea.
• A novel, testable working hypothesis distinct from those previously published.
• Framing the questions and the innovation aspects that includes a well thought-through project plan with key decision points and budget requirements.
• Proven record of accomplishment in the required field of expertise.
• Outlining the technical feasibility of the innovative proposed approach.
• The quality and feasibility of potentially existing data and/or the experimental plan that will be used to test the hypothesis.
• Specifically for this proposal the submitted idea must be implementable within a 12 month's time period.

If confidential data exists that would strengthen the proposal, you may indicate that confidential information is available to share under a Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA). If we find the non-confidential concept proposal sufficiently interesting, we will execute a CDA for confidential discussions.

You can expect funding of up to USD 80,000 if your submitted proposal has been selected as the winner by our internal review team (including all direct, indirect, overhead costs). Upon completion of the project, the actual costs of the project will be reconciliated versus estimated expenses and any unused funds should be returned to us. In the event the actual expenses are greater than the estimated expenses in the project budget, we will not be liable to pay the difference between the actual expenses and the estimated expenses.

Boehringer Ingelheim scientists with relevant expertise will provide you with an evaluation of your collaboration proposal within 6 weeks after the submission deadline of the individual question. Should there be mutual interest in proceeding with the proposed answer, you would be contacted by a Boehringer Ingelheim scientist to discuss the research plan in more detail and to understand how we can best support your idea. The timeframe for the start of a collaboration may be different for each collaboration.

No. Applications will be shared inside Boehringer Ingelheim amongst a team of scientists designated to evaluate proposals for potential funding. They will not be visible to, or shared with, scientists from other institutions.

All results and all IP therein generated by the researcher will be jointly owned by the researcher´s institute and Boehringer Ingelheim. Each party may freely use the results, without further obligations to the other party. At the same time, we suggest that the parties agree that in order to contribute to the advancement of science for the benefit of the public and to allow the scientific community and industry to use any results following joint publication, they will abstain from pursuing exclusive intellectual property protection with respect to any results. In particular, neither party shall file for a patent right pertaining to any results anywhere in the world and in any field.

If you would like to modify and re-upload your proposal, the easiest way would be to start a new submission process and submit your updated proposal that way. Please let us know of the initial proposal ID that you would like to retract, so we can delete it accordingly from our system and only consider your updated proposal for the evaluation process.

Due to their often central roles in diseases and their favorable drugability profiles, GPCRs are considered prime candidates for drug discovery efforts. However, GPCRs may also trigger unwanted drug safety events. Hence, there is a need to improve their therapeutic index as early as possible in discovery. With the opnMe GPCR Route 66+ project, scientists from the High Throughput Biology department at Boehringer Ingelheim plan to set up a fast and resource-effective methodology to detect unselective GPCR binding to ease and streamline the selection of safe candidates. The goal is to set up a GPCR selectivity binding assay panel that should enable large-scale profiling of the binding affinities and kinetics of test compounds for a variety of receptors. To facilitate the process, sixty-six suitable GPCR constructs have been prepared that are ready for human cell culture expression. To fulfill the mission of providing the scientific community with a high-quality, broad GPCR selectivity panel, we now ask for your contribution in obtaining suitable fluorescent probes, also known as tracers, which are currently limited. All incoming tracer(s) will be extensively profiled, and results will be made available with submitting scientists. In addition, the best tracer(s) will be included in the final opnMe GPCR 66+ assay panel. All results will be made available as part of an open access publication.

As participant to this opn2EXPERTS call, you will have the chance to outline and share your expertise, skill set, and prior successes in the field with a top 20 pharmaceutical company. As part of the 1^st phase of this opnMe call, you will receive 200 euros as a reimbursement of your shipping costs for the fluorescent tracer(s) delivery for a maximum of one delivery. We kindly ask you to refrain from sending individual shipments for individual tracers; rather we encourage you to combine the shipment. The subsequent assay development including the other reagents needed will be covered by us. You will receive all data that Boehringer Ingelheim will generate, and the potential prospect for a publication on this assay development. Overall, it opens the opportunity to work on a scientific topic in the field of GPCR research and accelerate the drug development of potential compounds targeting essential GPCRs. All submitted IP will continue to stay with you and you are free to use it for other purposes.

Should your tracer(s) become selected as part of the final GPCR panel, you will receive a 2,000 euros award per accepted and validated fluorescent probe that will serve as a non-exclusive license fee. Also, you will receive a detailed protocol describing the assay conditions including detailed validation data. You may have the opportunity to receive the plasmid-DNA to set up the assay in your own laboratory. In addition, we offer you the possibility to co-author a broader scope scientific publication describing our overall efforts to improve early drug safety screening in a high impact factor journal upon conclusion of this call. To be eligible for co-authorship you should be willing to disclose your tracer structure in the publication.

Furthermore, you will have the opportunity to nominate a maximum of five compound tools for validation studies and gain pre-publication access to the data of the broader GPCR panel generated. Your contribution will be valued in the community and offers you the possibility of high visibility as well as a network opportunity and link with likeminded scientists.

As part of our opnMe GPCR Route 66+ call we invite all experts in the GPCR field who may have access to defined tracer(s) matching any of the sixty-six GPCRs included in our call. We offer reimbursement for shipped tracer(s) and a monetary award of 2,000 euros per selected tracer for winning scientists. In contrast to our other opn2EXPERTS calls which are aiming at a longer-term collaboration period, the interaction between the participating scientists and the researchers from our High Throughput Biology department is more ad-hoc. Hence, we do not offer any additional research funding as part of this call.

To all scientists who have been selected as winners of the opnMe GPCR Route 66+ call we offer the possibility to co-author a planned open access publication that will summarize the efforts of this project. To be eligible for co-authorship you should be willing to disclose your tracer structure in the publication as the structural information might be required by the selected high-profile journal.

This call is structured into two main phases. As part of the first phase which runs from June 11 until September 27, 2023, we kindly ask for tracer submissions from participating GPCR experts. The duration of this first phase has been adopted for the summer period already when many scientists may be difficult to reach.

During the following six months from September 28, 2023, until March 29, 2024, an in-depth characterization of the submitted tracers is planned on our end. As we expect many submissions, we want to reserve sufficient time on our end to do our job well.

The second phase of this opnMe call begins with contacting of the winning scientists starting on April 1, 2024. Subsequently, we will generate GPCR selectivity profiling data on selected GPCR drugs. During this time, winners of the phase 1 can submit small molecule test candidates for consideration for GPCR profiling. They will also get pre-publication access to the GPCR dataset. The remainder of 2024 and 2025 is reserved for the planned publication and further follow-ups with the winning scientists. We aim to close this call on December 31, 2025.

The key success criteria for this opn2EXPERTS call are determined by the elements of the scoping chapters of our call that define the criteria for tracer selection and define which solutions will be considered out of scope. Please check our profile for more details.

Hence, providing as much information as possible as part of your submission will increase the chances of success.

With your submission, you provide us with the right to carry out defined analyses with your submitted tracer(s). Hence, formally it serves as a material transfer agreement that defines and secures your intellectual property (IP) contribution that ONLY provides Boehringer Ingelheim with the license to develop and perform an assay based on your shared fluorescent probe (tracer). The IP remains with you otherwise and you are free to use the tracer(s) for other purposes. Therefore, it is important that you do not disclose any tracer structures or SMILES codes with your submission.

We would like to ensure that all intellectual property (IP) of your tracer(s) stay with you. Hence, initially we will only request non-confidential information as part of your submission and most importantly, no structural information. For those tracers that will not become selected, we will delete all remaining materials and data after we have shared it with the submitting scientists. Should you be selected as a winner for Phase 2 of this call, from April 2024 until March 2025 you will have the possibility to file intellectual property rights for any tracer(s) that have been selected as part of the call. Boehringer Ingelheim will seek to obtain a non-exclusive license fee from you to carry out further analyses and to set up the final GPCR panel. Please note that a planned publication that aims to summarize all efforts may result in the need to release the structure of our tracer(s) into the public domain as a journal requirement.

As part of this call, we kindly ask you to refrain from sharing any confidential data, in particular structures or similar information.

If confidential data exists that would strengthen the proposal, please indicate that information is available to share under a Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA). If we find the non-confidential concept proposal sufficiently interesting, we will execute a CDA for confidential discussions.

In this opn2EXPERTS call we aim to study the selectivity of the initial sixty-six GPCRs selected because plasmids are available. We are interested in increasing the panel and would like to get in contact with you for future projects. Please send us your idea without including any confidential information or tracer structures.

For initial validation studies an amount of 1 mg would be desired. If you, however, only can provide less material please include that information in your submission document.

In the current opn2EXPERTS call we aim to receive ready-to-use tracers or biotinylated adducts. If you have a precurser molecule that is ready to be coupled, we encourage you to send it to us including the information which reactive group would be available to be coupled on your molecule. Please make sure a simple coupling reaction would result in only a single product as we discourage a mixture of differently linked tracers.  Please also indicate in your submission document that this is a precurser to be coupled and do NOT include any structures of your tracers/precursers.

From September 28, 2023, until March 29, 2024, an in-depth characterization of all submitted tracers is planned on our end. As we expect many submissions, we want to reserve sufficient time on our end to do our job well. Hence, we reserved an extra-long review period during which we will carry out many planned experiments to further characterize your tracers, such as assessing tracer selectivity among the sixty-six GPCRs of interest, determining binding K_D,app where feasible, investigating tracer unspecific cytotoxicity and studying your tracers binding kinetic properties. Based on these criteria we select the best molecules to cover the GPCRs of interest and contact the winners on April 1, 2024.

We enable submitting scientists to propose up to five candidates for full profiling in the final GPCR panel. We do not plan any commercialization efforts.

No. All submissions will only be shared inside Boehringer Ingelheim amongst a team of scientists designated to evaluate all submitted tracers for eligibility for Phase 2. They will not be visible to, or shared with, scientists from other institutions.

Please register via our opnMe GPCR Route 66+ newsletter to stay up to date with the progress of our project. You should not expect more than maybe a newsletter every 4 to 6 months. During the newsletter registration process, you will also have the opportunity to agree to be contacted individually by our research team in case of interest.

With techMATCH on opnMe, we invite solutions with a focus on technology to propel drug discovery and development forward. We unite your brilliance with our expertise through focused calls on engineering and technology as part of this program. We welcome game-changing ideas from academia, startups, biotech, and larger corporations. Winners will benefit from a long-term, collaborative partnership, that provides open access to our expertise and the prospect of research funding. For biological or pharmacological topics, please consult our opn2EXPERTS program.

We welcome proposals from scientists around the world with very different backgrounds from either academia, startups, biotechs, or even larger enterprises such as device or pharmaceutical companies. As part of these calls, we invite you as an expert to propose concepts that clearly go beyond currently available as well as emerging solutions and envision a breakthrough.

Your proposed idea should cover at least a conceptional outline or prototype that you plan to move forward towards clinical readiness.

• Benefit from a close interaction and direct support from our scientific and technological experts
• Have a chance for tailored benefit packages that will help you as a winner of this call to reach the next step towards clinical readiness of your proposed technological approach
• Access appropriate funding whereby we assume that increasing complexity and maturity of the proposed solution may require different budget terms that would be negotiated with the selected partners in good faith
• Benefit from an additional range of possibilities to support you besides funding. Examples are engineering capabilities for design reviews, including a strong connection to patient insights, prototyping or pharmacokinetics studies with a range of relevant molecules
• Have full transparency on mutually agreeable partner rights & obligations (including intellectual property rights)
• You may find it beneficial to announce your partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim. Depending on the conditions of the agreement and mutual needs, we would be open for such an arrangement.
• You would be encouraged to publish according to the collaboration agreement (to be negotiated in good faith).

We highly recommend using our answer submission template to provide a short non-confidential proposal plus potential references. The document consists of a “general” part that requires the contact details of the submitting scientists and their organizations. In addition, an “answer part” which allows the structured entry of your suggested approach to address our question.

Submissions must only contain non-confidential data and should ideally be short, addressing the following areas to allow rapid evaluation of your idea:

• Rephrasing of the question to be solved and outline of the answer including addressed hurdles and innovative aspects
• Assessment on maturity of the proposed solution
• Proposed collaboration project plan with key decision points by focusing on reaching the next decision point or milestone towards clinical readiness
• Initial funding request covering a timeframe of 1-2 years
• Information on potential conflicting intellectual property rights of third parties and freedom to operate
• References (optional)

A template provided by us will help you to compile the information required.

• The proposed solution should demonstrate a high level of innovation and originality, offering a novel approach. It should aim to be implemented clinically and address the in-scope and out-of-scope criteria of the call.
• The successful solutions will focus on a clear hypothesis and how anticipated hurdles in conjunction with the proposed novel approach will be overcome.
•  A successful proposal will have a clear outline of the required funding budget and a time plan where it should be assumed that Boehringer Ingelheim would fund the next step towards proof-of-concept of the proposed novel technological solution for drug delivery.
• If required, the successful proposal will be well structured in milestones and planned with key decision points (clear go/no-go criteria).
• A mitigation plan is included to overcome the anticipated hurdles that also includes a contingency plan in case one approach may not lead to the desired outcome.
• An ideal solution will discuss how the acceptance of the proposed sustainable drug delivery solution and potentially required behavior changes can be increased for relevant stakeholders including physicians, regulatory bodies, payers, and in particular patients.
• An assessment of the expected net environmental impact is included.
• Indication on cost-of-goods, including projected cost-breakdown, scalability and manufacturability to high production volumes is a plus.
• Information regarding intellectual property / third party infringement used in the context of the submission.
• Successful proposals will be supported by scientific teams who bring in a proven track record in the required field of expertise.
• The access to relevant infrastructure to implement the proposed solution is a prerequisite of a collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim.

If confidential data exists that would strengthen the proposal, you may indicate that confidential information is available to share under a Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA). If we find the non-confidential concept proposal sufficiently interesting, we will execute a CDA for confidential discussions.

Winning proposals should expect appropriate funding that will help them to bring their conceptual idea to the next level whereby we assume that increasing complexity and maturity of the proposed solution may require different budget terms that would be negotiated with the selected partners in good faith.

Our scientific jury that comprises of technology experts of Boehringer Ingelheim will provide you with an evaluation of your collaboration proposal after the review process is completed approximately six to eight weeks after the final submission date as outlined on our individual calls. Should there be mutual interest in proceeding with the proposed answer, you would be contacted by us to discuss your proposal in more detail and to understand how we can best support your idea.

No. Applications will be shared inside Boehringer Ingelheim amongst a team of scientists designated to evaluate proposals for potential partnerships. They will not be visible to, or shared with, scientists from other institutions.

Mutually agreeable partner rights & obligations (including intellectual property rights) will be negotiated in our collaboration agreement and provide full transparency. As part of the agreement, you will be encouraged to publish following the collaboration agreement (to be negotiated in good faith).