Variant Bio Announces Strategic Target Discovery Collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim for Kidney Disease

• Multi-year alliance leveraging Variant Bio's AI-powered Inference platform to discover novel drug targets for kidney disease
• Financial terms include upfront, license, and milestone payments potentially exceeding $120 million

SEATTLE, Jan. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Variant Bio, a genomics-driven AI drug discovery company, today announced a multi-year research collaboration and license agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim. The partnership will focus on the discovery and validation of novel targets for cardiorenal and kidney disease, leveraging Variant Bio's AI-powered Inference platform, which integrates proprietary genomic, deep phenotyping, and multi-omic data from studies with global populations.

Kidney diseases are among the most urgent health challenges, affecting more than 850 million people worldwide and placing a major burden on healthcare systems. By uniting the power of AI-driven discovery with Boehringer Ingelheim's legacy of innovation, this collaboration is set to accelerate the discovery of transformative therapies – turning genetic insights into real-world impact for millions of people living with kidney disease.

"This strategic partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim marks another key milestone for Variant Bio and demonstrates the power of our Inference platform," said Andrew Farnum, CEO of Variant Bio. "Combining our AI-driven discovery engine and unique data resources with Boehringer Ingelheim's unparalleled expertise in cardiovascular and renal conditions gives us an exceptional opportunity to make a real difference for patients with kidney disease."

"We look forward to working with Variant's scientists and harnessing their unique platform," said Søren Tullin, Global Head of Cardiovascular-Renal-Metabolic Diseases Research at Boehringer Ingelheim. "Discovering novel, genetically validated targets is pivotal to developing next–generation, first–in–class treatments that can transform the lives of people with kidney disease."

Variant Bio's Inference platform uses LLM technology, machine learning, and advanced statistical genetics to analyze hundreds of billions of data points, moving from genetic association to validated therapeutic hypotheses in a fraction of the time of traditional methods.

Under the terms of the agreement, Variant Bio will receive an upfront payment and is eligible for potential license and milestone payments totaling over $120 million.

About Variant Bio Variant Bio is developing life-saving therapies by studying the genes of people with exceptional health-related traits. By identifying communities with unique genetic architectures and outlier phenotypes, Variant Bio has identified novel human genetic evidence that is the basis for programs with breakthrough potential across multiple therapeutic areas. The company's research is powered by its proprietary Inference platform, which integrates across deep phenotyping and multi-omic data using statistical genetics and AI/ML approaches to identify and validate therapeutic targets. With ethics at its core, the company launched an unprecedented benefit-sharing program in 2020, in which it has pledged tangible benefits that directly impact the communities it partners with throughout the world. Follow Variant Bio's news and updates at www.variantbio.com and via its blog, on X/Twitter @VariantBio, on Instagram @variant_bio, and on LinkedIn.

SOURCE Variant Bio