Cue Biopharma, Inc.

Patients can engage in gamified versions of objective behavioural activities on a tablet. Credit: © 2025 Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, OX3 7JX. Boehringer Ingelheim, the University of Oxford and Cumulus Neuroscience have launched a study to monitor brain activity in individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) using new technology. The study will offer insights into the daily experiences of individuals with psychiatric disorders. It aims to assess the acceptability of new technology designed to quantify the mood, behaviour and activity of the brain, and aid new therapeutic research and development. The NeuLogiq neuroassessment platform from Cumulus will be leveraged in the BPD patient population for the first time. It allows for brain function tracking over time, both in clinical settings and in patients’ homes. The NeuLogiq headset enables individuals to engage in gamified versions of objective behavioural activities on a tablet. GlobalData Strategic Intelligence US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate? Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis. By GlobalData Learn more about Strategic Intelligence The headset measures electroencephalogram (EEG) brain wave patterns that are accurately synchronised with the activities. The goal is to capture data that offers a clearer understanding of the activity within the brain’s networks. The Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford will carry out the study at Warneford Hospital, gathering frequent EEG and behavioural evaluations and remote metrics of mood and activity. The study targets young adults aged 18 to 35 years and aims to evaluate the Cumulus platform’s feasibility in this population to offer a dataset for in-depth analysis of brain activity and behaviour in BPD. 30 BPD subjects and 20 subjects who have not been diagnosed with mental health disorders will be recruited. Boehringer Ingelheim neuroscience and mental health global head and senior vice-president Dr Hugh Marston stated: “If this platform is successfully validated in this patient population, it could be a game-changer for studies investigating novel precision psychiatry treatments. It could help us identify biomarkers for stratification and provide a rich dataset for reverse translation.” Boehringer recently entered a strategic research partnership with Cue Biopharma to develop and commercialise Cue’s CUE-501 product candidate for autoimmune conditions.

Boehringer Ingelheim and Tessellate Bio have entered into a partnership worth over €500m to develop oral precision medicines for hard-to-treat cancers. The research collaboration and global licence agreement will focus on developing treatments targeting tumours that are dependent on alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) for their growth. ALT is thought to occur in up to 10% of all cancers and is associated with poorer clinical outcomes and a lack of targeted therapies. Tessellate Bio has already developed inhibitors of an undisclosed target that helps enable the uncontrolled growth of ALT-positive cancer cells. Blocking this target has been shown to increase DNA damage, replication stress and tumour cell death in these tumour cells, and a “clear benefit” of the approach is that it does not affect healthy cells, according to the precision oncology company. The partners will work together to advance the programme, with Tessellate Bio eligible for near-term payments comprising an upfront licence fee, research funding and technical milestone payments, as well as downstream success-based milestones. Lamine Mbow, global head of discovery research at Boehringer, said the company is “[looking] forward to working with Tessellate Bio’s team of scientists to develop innovative cancer treatments based on their synthetic lethality approach targeting ALT-positive tumours”. Tessellate’s chief executive officer, Andree Blaukat, outlined that its partnership with Boehringer is its “first pharma collaboration”. “[Boehringer] has a proven commitment to oncology and the agreement aligns with our collaborative strategy for bringing new targeted treatment options based on the concept of synthetic lethality to patients across a wider range of cancers,” Blaukat said. The collaboration comes just over a week after Boehringer and Cue Biopharma announced a partnership worth $357m to develop and commercialise Cue’s pre-clinical B cell depletion therapy, CUE-501, for autoimmune diseases. Boehringer also partnered with Salipro Biotech last month to accelerate the development of multiple drug targets. The research and licence agreement will focus on advancing therapeutic solutions that target G protein-coupled receptors, ion channels, transporters and other integral membrane proteins in areas such as cardio-renal-metabolic diseases and mental health.

Boehringer Ingelheim and Cue Biopharma have announced a partnership worth $357m to develop and commercialise Cue’s pre-clinical B cell depletion therapy for autoimmune diseases. The multi-year collaboration and licence agreement will see the companies use Cue’s technology to further research and advance the development of the candidate molecule, CUE-501. The partners also have the option to expand their research and potential development into various B cell targeting bi-specifics for autoimmune diseases. Carine Boustany, US research site head and global head of immunology and respiratory diseases research at Boehringer Ingelheim, said the collaboration represents a “strategic expansion of [the company’s] pipeline portfolio in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, an area that remains challenging and where people living with these conditions often cycle through multiple treatments before finding relief”. “By leveraging Cue Biopharma’s proprietary T-cell engager platform, our goal is to deliver a more effective treatment option to patients earlier in their disease journey,” Boustany added. Autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis, affect more than 50 million people in the US. They occur when the immune system is unable to distinguish between healthy cells and invading pathogens. CUE-501 has the potential to reach patients with autoimmune diseases earlier and result in long-term disease control, according to the new partners. The candidate is designed to bind to a B cell specific membrane protein and selectively engage virus-specific memory killer T cells, allowing it to deplete B cells and dampen autoimmune and inflammatory processes. Under the terms of the agreement, Cue Biopharma will receive an upfront payment of $12m alongside research support payments, and will be eligible for approximately $345m in research, development and commercial milestone-based payments, as well as royalty payments on net sales. Cue’s chief executive officer, Daniel Passeri, said: “This partnership with Boehringer enables further development of the candidate molecule and has the potential to further validate our Immuno-STAT platform, for what we believe to represent a breakthrough, novel approach to selectively redirect and harness potent anti-viral memory T cells against targeted, pathologic cells.”