Evotec and Novo Nordisk Enter into Technology Development Partnership to Support Next-Generation Cell Therapies

Evotec SE

Wed, Sep 25, 2024, 11:00 PM 3 min read

Both Evotec and Novo Nordisk have significant expertise and a strategic focus to support stem cell-based therapies. In order to provide next-generation off-the-shelf cell therapy products for clinical development and possible commercialisation thereafter, the companies will collaborate on development of advanced technologies in support thereof.

Under the collaboration agreement, Novo Nordisk will provide funding for technology development activities at Evotec's R&D site in G?ttingen, Germany and at Evotec's certified cell therapy manufacturing facility in Modena, Italy. Novo Nordisk has an option to obtain exclusive rights to utilise the results of the collaboration for a pre-defined therapeutic area. Evotec receives R&D funding, an undisclosed upfront and possible milestone and royalty payments.

Dr Cord Dohrmann, Chief Scientific Officer of Evotec, said: "Cell therapies have already proven to be highly effective and have the potential to become functional cures in many disease areas. Stem cell-based cell therapy is a promising approach to modulate and scale cell therapies to ultimately provide tailor-made, off-the-shelf cell therapies at reasonable costs. Together with Novo Nordisk, we are confident to be able to generate novel and robust technologies that will help deliver on the promise of stem cell-based therapies."

Dr Joachim Fruebis, Corporate Vice President, Cell Therapy R&D, at Novo Nordisk, added: "We are excited to join forces with Evotec on our cell therapy initiatives. We hope that this collaboration will enable us to bring cutting-edge, stem cell-based therapies to patients more efficiently. By integrating our strengths, we are setting the stage for significant breakthroughs to more efficiently advance our cell therapies. This partnership holds great promise, and I am confident it will lead to significant advancements in realising our full potential "

About Cell Therapy at Evotec
Cell therapy, one of the most promising regenerative medicine approaches, replaces a patient's missing or broken cells with functioning cells from a range of different sources, either from a donor, from the patient's own material, or from stem cells. Stem cell research has opened up an almost unlimited source of consistent-quality material for such cell therapies. At the same time, differentiating cell therapies from a single validated source circumvents critical risks of contamination associated with administering both donor and patient cell material.

Building on Evotec's industrialised induced pluripotent stem cell ("iPSC") platform, Evotec has built up a proprietary cell therapy with broad and deep capacity and capabilities. Evotec's initiatives include proprietary and partnered cell types currently in pre-clinical development for a broad range of indications including diabetes, oncology, cardiology, and ophthalmology.

About Evotec SE
Evotec is a life science company with a unique business model that delivers on its mission to discover and develop highly effective therapeutics and make them available to the patients. The Company's multimodality platform comprises a unique combination of innovative technologies, data and science for the discovery, development, and production of first-in-class and best-in-class pharmaceutical products. Evotec provides high value pipeline co-creating partnerships and solutions to all Top 20 Pharma and over 800 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, as well as other healthcare stakeholders. Evotec has strategic activities in a broad range of currently underserved therapeutic areas, including e.g. neurology, oncology, as well as metabolic and infectious diseases. Within these areas of expertise, Evotec aims to create the world-leading co-owned pipeline for innovative therapeutics and has to-date established a portfolio of more than 200 proprietary and co-owned R&D projects from early discovery to clinical development. Evotec operates globally with more than 5,000 highly qualified people. The Company's sites in Europe and the USA offer highly synergistic technologies and services and operate as complementary clusters of excellence. For additional information please go to www.evotec.com and follow us on X/Twitter @Evotec and LinkedIn.

Forward-looking statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements concerning future events, including the proposed offering and listing of Evotec's securities. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "should," "target," "would" and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements include comments regarding Evotec's expectations for revenues, Group EBITDA and unpartnered R&D expenses. These forward-looking statements are based on the information available to, and the expectations and assumptions deemed reasonable by Evotec at the time these statements were made. No assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates, which are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of Evotec. Evotec expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Evotec's expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.

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SOURCE: Evotec SE