17 November 2025
Despite significant advancements in drug discovery, a large portion of the proteome remains inaccessible to conventional small molecules or biologics, posing challenges in addressing high unmet medical needs. These "undruggable" targets often play critical roles in disease biology.
Recent breakthroughs in protein degradation and modulation have introduced innovative strategies that leverage cellular machinery to selectively modulate protein function. Examples include PROTACs, molecular glues, molecular gates, and biomolecular condensates.
Building on this paradigm, we aim to explore and exploit novel intrinsic cellular processes which go beyond the ones already integrated into ongoing pharmaceutical research. To enable new therapeutic interventions against traditionally undruggable targets, we invite scientific experts to submit innovative ideas in response to the following question:
How would you propose leveraging intracellular mechanisms to expand the druggable target landscape by using innovative approaches?
The focus of this call is on novel strategies to selectively target previously inaccessible proteins or pathways by modulating protein localization, activity, and trafficking. This includes, but is not limited to, nuclear translocation, organelle-specific routing, molecular condensates, and expanding the druggable proteome and genome through spatial and temporal control mechanisms.
Proposals will be reviewed by a scientific panel of Boehringer Ingelheim experts. If your project is selected, you will have the opportunity to collaboratively advance your approach directly with a multidisciplinary team of scientists, comprising experts in medicinal chemistry, drug discovery sciences, and pharmacology across various disease areas.
Submit your ideas now! Proposals will only be accepted if received through January 18, 2026, 11:59 pm PST.
No registration required
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About our techMATCH question:
How would you propose leveraging intracellular mechanisms to expand the druggable target landscape by using innovative approaches? With ambitious questions such as this, we share precisely formulated questions with the expert community on opnMe. We welcome game-changing ideas from academia, startups, biotech, and larger corporations. Submit your proposals through January 18, 2026. Learn more...
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.