The collaboration—which is now active until 2031, features a $25 million payment to Evotec for progress made in neurodegenerative disease research.
Evotec SE recently provided an update regarding its strategic partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb, a collaboration dating back to December 2016. The agreement involves Evotec receiving $25 million for identification of disease-modifying treatments for various neurodegenerative diseases, an area that constantly strives for slowing down or reversing disease progression.1
It had been previously revealed2 that the original payment had been $20 million.
“We are excited to further expand our pipeline with another high-potential program progressing into late pre-clinical development, demonstrating the exceptional productivity of our neuroscience partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb and our shared commitment to innovation and patient care,” Dr. Cord Dohrmann, Evotec’s chief scientific officer, at the time of the June announcement. “Together with Bristol Myers Squibb we have been able to advance a growing portfolio of programs to critical inflection points, bringing us closer to our joint goal of delivering new therapeutic options for patients suffering from devastating neurological disorders.”
The latest update revolves around Evotec’s branded PanOmics platform alongside patient-derived disease models. Thus far, the parties have collaborated to compile a pipeline of both discovery and clinical-stage programs, including EVT8683, which was in-licensed by Bristol Myers Squibb as BMS-986419 back in September 2021. By March 2023, Bristol Myers Squibb and Evotec has decided to expand their partnership for eight more years.
“The achieved milestone underlines the productive nature of our neuroscience partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb,” Dohrmann added. “Using our PanOmics-driven drug discovery platform, we are targeting neurodegenerative diseases with tremendous unmet medical need. Beyond BMS-986419, we are very excited to advance yet another program toward the clinic development in 2026.”
References
1. Evotec announces progress in strategic neuroscience partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb. Evotec SE. August 8, 2024. Accessed August 12, 2024. https://www.evotec.com/en/news/evotec-announces-progress-in-strategic-neuroscience-partnership-with-bristol-myers-squibb-2
2. Evotec announces progress in strategic neuroscience partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb. Evotec SE. June 12, 2024. Accessed August 12, 2024. https://www.evotec.com/en/news/evotec-announces-progress-in-neuroscience-collaboration-with-bristol-myers-squibb