1 December 2025
Chronic pain is a complex, subjective experience influenced by the interplay between peripheral pain generators and brain mechanisms regulating emotions and cognition. Beyond physical discomfort, it is often accompanied by centrally mediated symptoms such as fatigue, sleep disturbances, cognitive impairment, and psychological distress. Among the various types of chronic pain, nociplastic pain stands out as a subtype characterized by widespread pain without any evident tissue damage. Current treatments for pain, including anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids, offer limited effectiveness and are associated with significant side effects. These therapies are particularly ineffective in addressing nociplastic pain conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. This underscores the critical need for novel therapeutic approaches that can target central mechanisms of pain processing and provide relief for both pain itself and its associated symptoms.
Through our new call on opnMe, we invite researchers across academia, biotech, and beyond to submit innovative ideas to uncover novel molecular pathways, targets and potential drug candidates addressing central mechanisms of chronic pain processing, with a focus on nociplastic pain. Specifically, we seek proposals addressing the following question:
How would you propose to identify and validate molecular targets that underlie the central neurobiological mechanisms involved in chronic pain, specifically nociplastic pain?
The focus of this call is to identify and validate novel, feasible molecular mechanisms and targets involved in modulating pain processing within brain circuits, particularly in chronic nociplastic pain. This includes exploring innovative drug discovery approaches such as small molecules, biologicals, peptides, emerging modalities like antibody-drug conjugates, and human-based research methods to uncover central mechanisms underlying pain.
Eligible solutions may come from diverse backgrounds, including academia, start-ups, biotech, or larger enterprises like pharmaceutical or digital life science companies. Proposals will be reviewed by Boehringer Ingelheim’s Neuroscience and Mental Health Discovery Research teams. Successful proposals will advance our understanding of central pain processes and receive tailored funding packages or business options aligned with IP considerations.
Submit your ideas now! Proposals will only be accepted if received through January 28, 2026, 11:59 pm PST.
No registration required
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About our opn2EXPERTS question:
How would you propose to identify and validate molecular targets that underlie the central neurobiological mechanisms involved in chronic pain, specifically nociplastic pain? With ambitious questions such as this, we share precisely formulated scientific questions with the research community as part of our opn2EXPERTS program. Together with winning teams, we intend to explore novel solutions for discovery research that will ultimately benefit the needs of patients.
About opnMe:
opnMe.com, the open science portal of Boehringer Ingelheim, fosters science and collaboration initiatives in areas of high unmet medical need. Our molecules are provided to the scientific community either free of charge as “Molecules to Order” or applied for via scientific research submissions as “Molecules for Collaboration”. With our current “opn2EXPERTS” and “techMATCH” call on harnessing intracellular mechanisms, we enlist scientific advice on key scientific topics to fuel further drug discovery and deliver novel solutions that benefit unmet patient needs. Our "opn2TALENTS" postdoc grants at one of our research sites offer opportunities for high-level talents to propose innovative approaches for precisely defined scientific questions.