Evotec reaches milestone in integrated drug discovery and development partnership with Aeovian
Evotec SE announced that the Company has reached a milestone in a drug discovery and development partnership with the biopharmaceutical company Aeovian Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Aeovian and Evotec entered into a drug discovery partnership in 2017 to discover and develop new and highly selective mTORC1 inhibitors for the treatment of rare and age-related diseases. After nominating a pre-clinical development candidate within 18 months from starting the lead optimisation phase, Aeovian was recently able to successfully close a $ 37 m Series A financing round with lead investors venBio Partners and Sofinnova Investments and the participation of Apollo Health Ventures. Evotec received an undisclosed payment and has also participated in the financing round to secure additional upside from the further successful development of the jointly developed programme.
Evotec continues to support Aeovian’s project with the fully-integrated clinical-enabling service INDiGO as well as the process development for the production of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (“API”). The partners plan to work effectively towards submission of an Investigational New Drug Application (“IND”) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) and the initiation of clinical studies for Aeovian’s lead candidate.
Dr Craig Johnstone, Chief Operating Officer of Evotec, commented: “This milestone achievement with Aeovian is yet another impressive example of how Evotec’s integrated discovery and development platform contributes efficient execution to the medical innovation of its partners. The management of this chemically challenging project “under one roof” was key to delivering a PDC within 18 months from starting at the lead optimisation phase. We are confident that through our INDiGO and API manufacturing services we can continue to support the successful development of Aeovian’s project in the best way possible.”
Stelios T. Tzannis, PhD, President & CEO of Aeovian, added: “We are extremely glad about the fast progress of our programme which has been made possible by Evotec’s expertise and technical excellence. The successful identification and de-risking of our lead clinical candidate was instrumental in the closing of our Series A financing. We are excited to be working with our investors and the Evotec team towards the successful development of this innovative compound to bring relief to patients suffering from rare central nervous system (“CNS”) and age-related disorders.”
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