Evotec Enters into Research Collaboration with Inserm

Evotec AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, TecDAX, ISIN: DE0005664809) announced today that the Company has entered into a research collaboration with Inserm Transfert, the private subsidiary of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (“Inserm”).
Evotec has entered into multiple collaborations with top academic
institutions in the USA, Germany and the UK. This collaboration with
Inserm marks the initiation of the first project under Evotec’s and
Sanofi’s Academic Bridge, which was established as a result of the
multi-component strategic alliance between the companies effective 01
April 2015. This Academic Bridge aims to accelerate the translation of
promising cutting-edge science from French academic institutions into
pharmaceutical product candidates. In this joint effort, Evotec scouts
and incubates projects generated in France under its EVT Innovate
strategy.
A year after initiating the French Academic Bridge, the first
collaboration between Evotec and Prof. Gilles Favre’s team from
Inserm/the Université Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier/Oncopole de Toulouse
has started. The research collaboration’s goal is to characterise and
develop new selective modulators of RhoB functions as a promising
approach to increase therapeutic options in many cancers with high unmet
medical need. RhoB is an exciting oncological target implicated in the
control of cellular stress response, migration, tumour
neovascularisation and progression.
Dr Pascale Augé, Chairman of the executive management board of Inserm
Transfert, commented: “We happily welcome the signing of this
partnership with Evotec. It will allow Prof. Favre and his team to
further develop their research in the cancer field and move to the
industrial development.”
Dr Cord Dohrmann, Chief Scientific Officer of Evotec, added: “We are
excited to be part of this great research initiative that combines the
best-in-class ingredients of what is needed for highly innovative and
differentiated drug candidates in oncology. This is Evotec’s first of
hopefully many more academic collaborations in France. We are very proud
to add Inserm to our academic partners, thereby further broadening our
efforts to bridge leading academic science into industry standard drug
discovery programmes.”
ABOUT THE FRENCH NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH AND MEDICAL RESEARCH
(INSERM)
Founded in 1964, the French National Institute of Health and Medical
Research (Inserm) is a public science and technology institute, jointly
supervised by the French Ministry of Education, higher Education and
Research and the Ministry of Social Affairs, health and women’s rights.
The mission of its scientists is to study all diseases, from the most
common to the rarest, through their work in biological, medical and
public health research. Inserm supports more than 300 laboratories
across France. In total, the teams include nearly 15,000 researchers,
engineers, technicians and administrative staff, etc. Inserm is a member
of the National Alliance for Life and Health Sciences, founded in April
2009 with CNRS, Inserm, the CEA, Inra, INRIA, the IRD, the Pasteur
Institute, the Conference of University Presidents (CPU) and the
Conference of Chairmen of The Regional and University Hospital Centres.
For more information, please go to www.inserm.fr.
ABOUT INSERM TRANSFERT
Founded in 2000, Inserm Transfert SA is the private subsidiary of the
French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm),
dedicated to technology transfer (from invention disclosure to
industrial partnership). Inserm Transfert also manages European and
International research projects, supports large scale projects in
epidemiology and public health. Inserm Transfert has run a proof of
concept fund since 2009. The company also supports entrepreneurs in the
biotech sector, in partnership with Inserm Transfert Initiative. For
more information, please go to: www.inserm-transfert.fr.
ABOUT EVOTEC AG
Evotec is a drug discovery alliance and development partnership company
focused on rapidly progressing innovative product approaches with
leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academics, patient
advocacy groups and venture capitalists. We operate worldwide providing
the highest quality stand-alone and integrated drug discovery solutions,
covering all activities from target-to-clinic to meet the industry’s
need for innovation and efficiency in drug discovery (EVT Execute). The
Company has established a unique position by assembling top-class
scientific experts and integrating state-of-the-art technologies as well
as substantial experience and expertise in key therapeutic areas
including neuroscience, diabetes and complications of diabetes, pain and
inflammation, oncology and infectious diseases. On this basis, Evotec
has built a broad and deep pipeline of more than 70 partnered product
opportunities at clinical, pre-clinical and discovery stages (EVT
Innovate). Evotec has established multiple long-term discovery alliances
with partners including Bayer, CHDI or UCB and development partnerships
with e.g. Janssen Pharmaceuticals in the field of Alzheimer’s disease,
with MedImmune and Sanofi in the field of diabetes, with Pfizer in the
field of tissue fibrosis and with Second Genome in the field of
inflammatory diseases. For additional information please go to www.evotec.com.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Information set forth in this press release contains forward-looking
statements, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The
forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgement of
Evotec as of the date of this press release. Such forward-looking
statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but are subject to a
variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our
control, and which could cause actual results to differ materially from
those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. We expressly
disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates
or revisions to any such statements to reflect any change in our
expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on
which any such statement is based.