German biotechnology company Evotec has teamed up with Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk to develop advanced technologies that support cell therapies.
The collaboration focuses on developing next-generation, off-the-shelf stem cell-based therapies for clinical development and potential commercialisation.
Under the terms of the agreement, Novo Nordisk will fund the technology development activities at Evotec’s R&D site in Göttingen, Germany, and the manufacturing facility in Modena, Italy.
In return, the Danish drugmaker will hold an option to obtain exclusive rights to use the products emerging from the collaboration, for a specific therapeutic area.
Evotec will receive R&D funding, upfront and possible milestone payments, along with royalties.
Novo Nordisk cell therapy R&D corporate vice president Joachim Fruebis said: “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.”
Evotec’s induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) platform combines advanced technologies, data and science for the discovery, development, and production of advanced therapeutics.
Building on its iPSC platform, the company has developed a unique portfolio of cell therapy with broad and deep capacity and capabilities.
Evotec’s in-house developed and partnered cell types are currently in pre-clinical development for a broad range of indications including diabetes, oncology, cardiology, and ophthalmology.
Evotec chief scientific officer Cord Dohrmann 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.”
Earlier this year, Evotec and Bayer announced that they are extending their existing collaboration to focus on precision treatments for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).
