Evotec & Galapagos Enter Global Collaboration

Evotec AG and Galapagos NV recently announced a global collaboration focused on a novel target for fibrosis and other indications. The collaboration concerns a small molecule program, currently in preclinical drug development for the treatment of fibrotic diseases of the liver and other organs. The target has been identified and validated using Evotec’s proprietary platforms for fibrotic diseases and NASH. Evotec utilized its in-house assay development and drug screening capabilities to identify small-molecule modulators against the target, which remains undisclosed.

In exchange for global commercialization rights to Galapagos, Evotec receives an upfront payment, and is eligible for potential milestone and royalty payments. Galapagos will be responsible for all further development of the program. Furthermore, Galapagos will have access to specific screening formats at Evotec to support the final preclinical development.

Dr. Cord Dohrmann, Chief Scientific Officer of Evotec, said “We are delighted to be working with Galapagos on this innovative project in an area of high unmet medical need. The team at Galapagos share our focus on novel, first-in-class therapeutic candidates and we are glad to be part of their portfolio building.”

“Following the Fibrocor partnership announced early January, the collaboration with Evotec recently announced again underlines our commitment to expanding our fibrosis franchise,” added Dr. Piet Wigerinck, Chief Scientific Officer of Galapagos. “We highly regard the scientific know-how of Evotec, and are hence very much looking forward to collaborating with the team.”

 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, and our more than 2,500 employees provide the highest quality stand-alone and integrated drug discovery and development solutions. We cover all activities from target-to-clinic to meet the industry’s need for innovation and efficiency in drug discovery and development (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 neuronal diseases, diabetes and complications of diabetes, pain and inflammation, oncology, infectious diseases, respiratory diseases, and fibrosis. On this basis, Evotec has built a broad and deep pipeline of approx. 100 co-owned product opportunities at clinical, pre-clinical and discovery stages (EVT Innovate). Evotec has established multiple long-term alliances with partners including Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, CHDI, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Sanofi, Takeda, UCB and others. For additional information please go to www.evotec.com and follow us on Twitter @EvotecAG.

 Galapagos discovers and develops small molecule medicines with novel modes of action, three of which show promising patient results and are currently in late-stage development in multiple diseases. Our pipeline comprises Phase 3 through to discovery programs in inflammation, fibrosis, osteoarthritis, and other indications. Our ambition is to become a leading global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of innovative medicines. For more information, visit www.glpg.com.