Equine insect bite hypersensitivity

Insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) is a seasonally recurrent, IgE-mediated strongly pruritic allergic dermatitis in horses. It is triggered predominantly by salivary allergens of biting midges of the genus Culicoides (Cul). It is the most common skin disease of horses, with a prevalence of 3 to 60%, depending on breed, family and geography. The pathogenesis is still not completely understood¹.

Current treatment focuses mostly on symptom relief through treatments such as corticosteroids, as well as avoidance of insect contact with insecticides or blankets, but is seldom satisfactory. Thus, there is a significant unmet medical need and the strong desire to discover new ways to treat IBH.

Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health (BI-AH) pursues animal health & well-being, innovation and sustainability. BI-AH has performed clinical studies and banked serum samples of allergic (IBH) and non-allergic horses. To the best of our knowledge, there are only a few biobanks dealing with veterinary samples, and none so far have collected IBH-related samples. All samples have been obtained in longitudinal studies performed in Germany. The studies have been approved or registered with the appropriate German federal authorities. Samples were collected with standardized protocols.

Serum samples:

In addition to the above-mentioned well characterized equine blood samples, some recombinantly produced Culicoides allergens are also available.

Some pathomechanisms of IBH likely resemble canine or human atopic dermatitis². Recently the term “liquid biopsy” has been established, summarizing a variety of analyses, e.g. metabolomics, proteomics, lipidomics, cell free DNA, miRNA, that can be performed in blood samples. Can blood-borne biomarkers or biomarker signatures be found, that may point to potential targets for intervention in IBH?

By making our internal serum samples available via this opn2EXPERTS question, we hope to trigger innovative approaches to improve our understanding of the pathologic mechanisms underlying equine insect bite hypersensitivity.

Research groups eligible for this opn2EXPERTS call should be in possession of and need to remain in compliance with all necessary permits, approvals, licenses and other authorizations required by applicable (local) legislation for the handling of biological samples, in particular equine blood samples.

Boehringer Ingelheim can help with additional details if required, e.g., for import permits or fulfilling Nagoya protocol requirements.

The following potential approaches to answer our question include, but are not limited to the following:

• Anything that can be investigated in / with serum
• "Translational approaches" – in this case: Do pathomechanisms known in, e.g., canine or human atopy hold true in horses?

• Proposals that are considered primarily fee for service
• Proposals that do not focus on equine insect bite hypersensitivity

If your project is selected, you will have the opportunity to directly collaborate with the Translational Veterinary Science team of Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health.

The access to the well-characterized equine blood samples will include access to additional meta-data (e.g. demographics, laboratory values, clinical severity / dermal scoring etc.).

In addition to the outlined in-kind funding and depending on the nature of your proposal, there may be additional funding available of up to 20,000 euros in total per selected project. Your funding request and rationale should be outlined in your proposal.

An agreement for the transfer and use of the material will need to be established mutually. It will provide full transparency about each partner’s rights & obligations. As part of the agreement it will be acknowledged that you will be the owner of any potential new intellectual property; however, Boehringer Ingelheim will have a right of first refusal.

To maintain the highest degree of awareness in this open innovation environment, we plan to announce recipient(s) publically and feature them on opnMe.com and our social media channels. We would guide you through this process and as part of it we would kindly ask for your prior consent, should our scientific jury select your submission.

We are seeking research collaboration proposals that contain:

• A well-structured proposal outlining a new and compelling scientific idea
• A novel, testable working hypothesis distinct from those previously published
• Framing the questions and the innovation aspects which includes a well thought-through project plan
• Proven track record in the required field of expertise
• Outlining the technical feasibility of the innovative proposed approach
• A well-structured experimental plan that will be used to test the hypothesis, and potentially existing data
• Ability to implement the outlined solution as part of a scientific collaboration project including access to a laboratory

Please use our answer submission template to provide a 2-3 page non-confidential proposal (available for download here).

If confidential data exists that would strengthen the proposal, please indicate that information is available to share under a Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA). If we find the non-confidential concept proposal sufficiently interesting, we will execute a CDA for confidential discussions.

We have been looking for answers for the following scientific challenge: Based upon serum samples supplied by us, how would you propose to improve our understanding of the pathologic mechanisms underlying equine insect bite hypersensitivity?

All incoming answers will be evaluated by our scientific jury, and upon selection, chosen proposals are pursued through a collaboration with the successful applicants. These will receive access to the unique set of serum samples to study their hypothesis. There is the additional opportunity to apply for some limited funding. This will be made available to selected winners.

We can only accept research proposals if they arrive by the submission deadline on January 28, 2021, 11:59 pm PST.