Neuroscience

Bristol Myers Squibb/ neurodegenerative diseases

In December 2016, Evotec announced that Evotec and Celgene (now a Bristol Myers Squibb company) have entered into a strategic drug discovery and development collaboration to identify disease-modifying therapeutics for a broad range of neurodegenerative diseases. Initial disease areas of focus will include Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and multiple other neurodegenerative disorders.

Evotec has built an industrialised iPSC infrastructure that represents one of the largest and most sophisticated iPSC platforms in the industry. Evotec's iPSC platform has been developed over the last five years with the goal to industrialise iPSC-based drug screening in terms of throughput, reproducibility and robustness to reach the highest industrial standards. This effort was enabled by a research collaboration and licence agreement with Harvard University involving world-leading scientists at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. In particular, a collaboration termed CureMotorNeuron that was initiated in 2013 with the laboratories of Professors Kevin Eggan, PhD, and Lee Rubin, PhD, resulted in significant contributions to the platform. Additional aspects of the platform were built up through Evotec's more than 10-year collaboration with the CHDI Foundation in the field of Huntington's disease.

Under the terms of the agreement, Evotec received an upfront payment of $ 45 m. Bristol Myers Squibb holds exclusive options to in-license worldwide rights to Evotec programmes developed from the company's compound library. Evotec may be eligible to receive up to $ 250 m in milestones as well as up to low double-digit royalties on in-licensed programmes. 

As part of the collaboration, Bristol Myers Squibb may also elect to screen compounds from its proprietary CELMoD(R) library using Evotec's iPSC platform to evaluate activity in models of neurodegenerative diseases. The initial term of the collaboration is five years.

In March 2023, Evotec announced that the Company has extended and expanded its strategic neurodegeneration partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb for additional 8 years with the goal to further broaden and deepen the strategic alliance. 

Evotec receives a $ 50 m upfront payment, undisclosed license and performance milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties up to low double-digit percentages on product sales. Including the upfront and downstream performance milestone payments, the overall transaction results in a deal potential of $ 4 bn.

JingXin/ EVT201

In October 2010, Evotec and Zhejiang JingXin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (“JingXin”) entered into a licence and collaboration agreement for EVT201 (a GABAA Receptor Partial Positive Allosteric Modulator), a novel potential treatment for insomnia. The agreement granted JingXin exclusive rights to develop and market the drug candidate in China. In return, Evotec received a small upfront payment, together with commercial milestones and significant royalties.
In April 2013, JingXin received approval from the Chinese Center of Drug Evaluation to commence clinical trials with EVT201 and is currently running Phase II clinical trials according to plan.
Evotec had previously concluded two Phase II studies, providing positive safety and efficacy results. All development costs are borne by JingXin and Evotec will have the right to reference clinical data produced by JingXin to support potential further development of EVT201 in other territories.

In Q2 2020, JingXin initiated Phase III clinical trials with EVT201 in China. In Q4 2021, JingXin reported positive results for EVT201 in insomnia. 
An expansion of the licensing agreement with JingXin for EVT201 and submission of regulatory approval in China through JingXin took place in Q2 2022. Regulatory approval for EVT201 in China is expected in 2023.