German pharmaceutical company Bayer and the life science company Evotec have announced that they are extending their existing collaboration to focus on precision treatments for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).
The expanded collaboration aims to identify and validate novel targets, to build a portfolio of precision cardiology therapeutics using Evotec’s disease modelling capabilities.
The alliance will leverage human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which provide unique opportunities to identify new disease mechanisms and pathways for novel treatments.
Evotec chief scientific officer Cord Dohrmann said: “In order to move the treatment paradigm beyond disease management, it is important to advance our understanding of the disease-relevant molecular mechanisms underlying cardiovascular diseases.
“Our approach is based on highly validated disease models to identify novel targets and profile drug candidates more comprehensively for their efficacy and safety.
“Intervening with these disease-associated mechanisms more comprehensively will enable the development of more effective, disease-modifying therapies with higher relevance for CVD to respond to the substantial unmet need associated with cardiovascular diseases.”
Under the terms of the agreement, both companies will contribute drug targets and high-quality technology platforms for developing new treatment options.
Bayer and Evotec will equally share responsibilities during the pre-clinical development of potential clinical candidates, emerging from the collaboration.
The German drugmaker will assume responsibility for any subsequent clinical development and commercialisation.
Bayer pharmaceuticals division business development and licensing head Juergen Eckhardt said: “This development takes our long-standing collaboration with Evotec to a new level and has the added benefit of lessons learned from working together the past 12 years.
“We remain committed to develop innovative therapies for patients in need and to tackle the high burden of cardiovascular disease.”
In 2012, Evotec and Bayer Pharma entered a €600m five-year, multi-target collaboration for developing three clinical candidates for the treatment of endometriosis.
In 2016, the two companies entered a five-year research partnership to develop multiple clinical candidates for kidney diseases such as chronic kidney disease in diabetes patients.
Evotec and Bayer expanded their partnership in 2020, with a new five-year, multi-target collaboration to develop multiple clinical candidates for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
Bayer pharmaceuticals division research and development head Christian Rommel said: “Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally.
“The refocused collaboration will leverage Evotec`s industrialised iPSC-based disease modelling platform and Bayer’s leadership in cardiology to advance a portfolio of innovative therapies for cardiovascular diseases with high unmet medical needs.
“This complements our focus on disease areas where we can truly improve the standard of care by delivering superior therapeutic solutions to patients in need.”
