The BioMed X Institute announced today the launch of a new global call for research proposals in collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim to establish an independent research group focused on the development of a New Platform for Next-Generation Intraocular Biologics. This new initiative marks the second research initiative at the XSeed Labs incubator, located at Boehringer Ingelheim’s research and development site in Ridgefield, Conn.

While current biologic therapies have significantly improved the treatment of retinal diseases, the burden of frequent intraocular injections remains a substantial barrier to patient adherence. This joint effort will address critical unmet needs in ophthalmic drug development: the challenge of creating biologics with long intraocular half-life and deep retinal penetration.

To overcome this bottleneck, BioMed X and Boehringer Ingelheim are seeking innovative and interdisciplinary research proposals aimed at developing a fundamentally novel biologics design principle: one that combines long-term intraocular activity with deep and efficient retinal tissue penetration. The selected research team will be tasked with building a robust, innovative platform for the design and validation of next-generation intraocular biologics that can modulate targets within the retina while significantly reducing injection frequency.

Once identified, the new research group will tackle three main scientific challenges:

• Development of a novel human organotypic in vitro platform for the screening of tens to hundreds of biologics for extended intraocular half-life and increased retinal penetration.
• Exploration of novel and elegant design principles for long acting and tissue-penetrating intraocular biologics.
• Validation of the most promising candidate technologies in vitro and in vivo.

“A year after unveiling our first research team at Boehringer Ingelheim’s Ridgefield R&D site, we are thrilled to expand our joint XSeed Labs incubator on the company’s campus and into a new area,” said Mark Johnston, CEO of BioMed X USA. “This extended collaboration is proof that installing our BioMed X model within the campus of a major pharmaceutical company can indeed add value to their internal R&D pipeline.”

“We are excited to see how well our new XSeed Labs model integrates into the R&D campus of Boehringer Ingelheim,” said Dr. Christian Tidona, Founder and Managing Director of the BioMed X Institute. “It is our mission to increase innovation productivity in pharma, combining the best of the two worlds - academia and industry.”

“Our Ridgefield innovation hub is home to Boehringer’s Biotherapeutics Center of Excellence, dedicated to pioneering novel biologics that address unmet patient needs across a wide spectrum of diseases,” said Dr. Andrew Nixon, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Biotherapeutics Discovery Research, Boehringer Ingelheim. “By expanding our collaboration with BioMed X – already advancing fibrosis and wound healing research on our Ridgefield campus – we now aim to leverage our biologics expertise to drive innovative solutions toward improving retinal drug delivery.”

The new research team will comprise one group leader, two postdoctoral researchers, and two research assistants. Ideal candidates will bring expertise in ophthalmology, tissue engineering, antibody engineering, or related disciplines, and a strong interest in translational research. Interdisciplinary collaboration is strongly encouraged, especially in retinal biology, biotherapeutics discovery, and complex in vitro model development. However, approaches involving medical devices or nanoparticle-based formulations are outside the scope of this project.

Life sciences researchers who are interested in becoming part of this new BioMed X team on the Boehringer Ingelheim Ridgefield campus are invited to respond to this call for applications by submitting a project proposal via the BioMed X Career Space before July 12, 2025.