The newly approved compound is aimed at a specific genetic change occurring in a subgroup of patients with non-small cell lung cancer, a diagnosis that affects around forty thousand people annually. Previous standard treatments such as chemotherapy or immunotherapy often had limited effectiveness in these cases. The new compound remedies this shortcoming and for the first time offers an oral targeted therapy option that promises greater efficacy and a markedly improved quality of life.
With advanced lung cancer in particular, the physical, psychological, and emotional strain is enormous. The availability of a new option for patients previously considered resistant to treatment marks a medical breakthrough and offers new hope.
Medical Breakthrough from Austria
One important aspect of this achievement is that in the past ten years very few oncological compounds originating in Austria have received market approval. The fact that a molecule from a Vienna research center has been approved in the United States is therefore a genuine milestone—and a great accomplishment for the Boehringer Ingelheim oncology research in Vienna.
Around fifty researchers worked on the project in the early stage, and the team continued to grow later on. The collaboration between medical chemistry and biology research was of vital importance. Chemists developed the molecule, and biologists tested its effect on tumor cells.
For over twenty years Vienna has been the main center of Boehringer Ingelheim’s global oncology research network. The Angelika Amon Research Building, which opened in September 2024, offers 150 researchers the latest technologies to assist them in their search for cancer cures.
Precision Medicine at the Highest Level
Birgit Wilding is the Scientific Lead in Boehringer Ingelheim’s Medical Chemistry department in Vienna. She was a member of the team responsible for the discovery of a chemical compound that targets and inhibits pathogenic proteins: “The greatest challenge was to develop a compound with a highly selective action, targeting cancer cells with a specific genetic change without impairing other important cell functions,” Wildling explains. “We managed to identify a single amino acid that can make the important distinction between pathologically relevant and a healthy cells—and then designed molecules that specifically address this difference.”
Her colleague Ralph Neumüller, Head of Cancer Cell Signaling, praised the culture of trust in the team: “This was vital for the success of this multidisciplinary project. Trust fosters personal responsibility, which ultimately facilitates problem-solving and makes data-based decisions possible. The commitment of everyone involved to develop a highly promising molecule that addresses a potentially unmet medical need was truly remarkable.”
Mark Petronczki, Global Head of Oncology Research at Boehringer Ingelheim, sums up the future strategy: “We are investing in therapies that target cancer cells, focusing on key oncogenic drivers and characteristics to kill cancer cells directly. At the same time, we are exploring new ways within the framework of immuno-oncology therapies to support and direct the immune system in eliminating cancer cells. We are looking to maximize the benefits for cancer patients through an intelligent combination of these approaches.”
“The knowledge that a molecule designed, synthesized, and tested by us could one day help patients was extremely motivating,” agree Ralph Neumüller, Birgit Wildling and Mark Petronczki, members of the strong Boehringer Ingelheim oncology research team.
Powerful Message for Vienna’s Research Potential
The US approval is a great achievement not only for Boehringer Ingelheim as a researching pharmaceutical company but also for Vienna as a life science ecosystem. It shows that highly innovative drug research is possible in Austria—and that it can set international standards. In the past few years Vienna has developed into a center for precision oncological medicine. With the approval of this active ingredient, Boehringer Ingelheim’s cancer research center in Vienna is now also in the global spotlight.