Established in 1885, Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) is the world's largest family-owned pharmaceutical company, dedicated to pioneering medical solutions. Boehringer Ingelheim Taiwan Ltd. hosts the "Boehringer Ingelheim's Biomedicine Innovation Program," which has aided 89 projects since 2023. Following rigorous selection by BI's headquarters in Germany, 6 outstanding projects were chosen to receive customized coaching, accelerating technology commercialization, and enhancing global healthcare offerings.

Dr. Yun-Ru (Ruby) Chen, whose grandmother has suffered from dementia for almost 20 years, has devoted herself to researching protein misfolding and neurodegenerative diseases. This time, she brings exciting news. In people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the progressive death of motor neurons makes patients feel as if their souls are imprisoned in lifeless bodies, eventually leading to respiratory failure. However, existing treatments only marginally slow down the progression without providing significant improvement. The humanized conformation-specific monoclonal antibody developed by Dr. Chen’s team is specific and unique to the misfolded, diseased protein. It can rescue motor behavior and motor neurons, reduce inflammation, and restore nerve innervation in the neuromuscular junction in ALS mouse models, offering hope to prevent ALS patients from succumbing to this incurable disease. In the future, the antibody may apply to 95% of ALS cases, 50% of frontotemporal dementia cases, and 30 to 57% of Alzheimer's disease cases, bringing hope to patients with neurodegenerative diseases.