Evotec has over 15 years of experience in metabolic disease drug discovery, starting from target identification up to pre-clinical development. Through internal and collaborative efforts we have built a highly sophisticated and integrated drug discovery platform.
- Extensive expertise in metabolic disorders such as diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, kidney disease, liver disease, and muscular dystrophy
- A comprehensive portfolio of in vitro assays and in vivo models is in place to support drug discovery projects
- Target tissues include pancreatic islets, skeletal muscle, kidney, adipose tissue and liver
Key capabilities of Evotec’s metabolic diseases discovery platform
Target identification and validation
Focus on identifying novel mechanisms and targets that have the potential to deliver drug candidates that prevent disease or even revert disease progression.
In vitro pharmacology
- High-content cellular analysis applied to phenotypic screens for new target classes in diabetes, obesity, chronic kidney & liver disease and muscle disease
- Assay development for both screening and validation
- Established cell lines and primary cells such as beta cells, adipocytes, myocytes, hepatocytes and podocytes
- Ex vivo primary islet, glomeruli, and muscle preparations from animals and humans for compound profiling in physiologically relevant environments
- Viral genetic modification for mechanism of action studies and target validation in vitro and in vivo
In vivo pharmacology
- A variety of type 2 and type 1 diabetes models
- Models of Diet Induced Obesity (DIO) as well as genetic models of obesity, diabetes, and associated complications, e.g. liver disease and diabetic nephropathy
- Diet-induced NASH models
- Strong focus on acute and chronic kidney disease in particular with respect to fibrosis
- PK, PK/PD, mode of action studies, efficacy screening and in vivo pharmacology profiling
- In vivo pre-clinical imaging: comprehensive set of morphometry and histology solutions, which can be tailored to the specific needs of a given project
Evotec´s in-house capabilities include high-throughput screening, structure-based drug design, medicinal chemistry, bioinformatics research, DMPK, biomarker and reagent production platforms. Technology platforms include high-content imaging, transcriptomics, proteomics, energy metabolism in real time, and electrophysiology. These can be accessed to support and progress metabolic diseases drug discovery programmes.
