A leap forward in osteoarthritis research through opnMe’s Molecule to order program

10 February 2025

We recently had the chance to speak to Deepa Ghosh, Professor at the Institute of Nano Science and Technology in India, about her experience with opnMe, the role of open innovation in her work, and how it advances her osteoarthritis (OA) research. Deepa has spent both her academic and professional careers researching the body’s potential to heal itself. “I became especially fascinated by the idea of regenerating damaged tissues,” she says. “And excited and challenged by the fact that very few treatment options are available to treat hard-to-heal tissues like cartilage.”

As her research focused more on orthopedics and the increasing incidence of osteoarthritis, she was determined to find a minimally invasive therapeutic option to prevent cartilage breakdown. “I was keen on pursuing therapeutic approaches that might protect the cartilage from progressive degeneration,” she explains. The key to stopping cartilage degeneration, she deduced, was the MMP-13 protease involved in cartilage matrix destruction. “Where many in the past have attempted to silence MMP-13 expression, my interest was to block its activity,” she explains.

This quest led her to our opnMe platform where she could have access to a free of charge MMP-13 inhibitor designed by Boehringer’ scientists. Deepa reviewed the available publications and opted for pursuing her work using our BI-4394 molecule. “The fact that highly specific MMP-13- blockers were available for free was very exciting,” she says. “Moreover, the willingness of scientists from opnMe to support our research by providing repeat amounts of the molecule and the discussions we had with the experts on the progress of the work served as a big motivation to us.”

Deepa and her team developed a special enzyme-responsive hydrogel to control the release of BI-4394, which blocks the cartilage-destroying MMP-13 protease. Their research shows that using this jelly-like substance to deliver the drug when needed was more effective in protecting cartilage from damage, compared to directly injecting the drug into the joint¹.

Deepa and her colleagues are inspired by the promising results they observed with BI-4394 and are excited about the possibility of further exploration of this treatment option in the clinic. Deepa shared, “We could not have accomplished this without Boehringer’s opnMe platform and their commitment to open innovation. This hitherto unexplored method might lead to the development of a promising treatment option in patients with early stages of osteoarthritis.”

If you want to learn more about Deepa’s work and open science, please watch our MMP-13 online seminar recording.

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About MMP-13 antagonist BI-4394:

BI-4394 is the result of structure-based drug design, leading to a highly potent inhibitor of MMP-13 with excellent selectivity against several other MMPs. MMP-13, also known as collagenase-3 (CLG3) is a key enzyme in the MMP family, involved in the breakdown of extracellular matrix in normal physiological processes and disease progression such as arthritis and metastasis.

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 “opn2EXPERTS” and “techMATCH” programs, 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.