Evotec And Vifor Pharma Form Joint Venture For Early Development In Nephrology

• VIFOR PHARMA AND EVOTEC TO CREATE A JOINTLY-OWNED DRUG DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM FOR INNOVATIVE NEPHROLOGY THERAPEUTICS
• COLLABORATION BRINGS TOGETHER EVOTEC’S BEST-IN-CLASS DRUG DISCOVERY CAPABILITIES AND VIFOR PHARMA’S DEVELOPMENT AND COMMERCIALISATION EXPERTISE IN NEPHROLOGY
• JOINT VENTURE WILL FOCUS ON PATIENT DATA-DRIVEN TARGET IDENTIFICATION TO PURSUE A PRECISION MEDICINE APPROACH FOR THE TREATMENT OF KIDNEY DISEASES

HAMBURG, GERMANY and ST. GALLEN, SWITZERLAND / ACCESSWIRE / November 6, 2019 / Evotec SE (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, MDAX/TecDAX, ISIN: DE0005664809) and Vifor Pharma today announced the launch of a 50:50 joint venture focused on the discovery and development of novel nephrology therapeutics. Vifor Pharma will be benefiting from access to an external R&D capability for the development of its own nephrology pipeline, while Evotec will gain access to a commercial partner through outlicensing all nephrology assets developed through the joint venture to the Vifor Pharma Group.

Under the terms of the agreement, the joint venture will focus on the discovery of nephrology therapeutics by analysing the clinical data provided by Evotec that is mining a unique UK kidney biobank, NURTuRE, in order to identify new targets for renal therapies, and sharpen existing product profiles of an innovative pipeline. Evotec will focus on applying its leading drug discovery & development capabilities and will leverage Vifor Pharma’s proven commercial platform to create a robust pipeline of nephrology programmes. Upon completion of clinical trials for drugs in the newly-created, jointly-owned pipeline, products will be outlicensed to Vifor Pharma for registration and commercialisation to further expand Vifor Pharma Group’s strong nephrology pipeline.

Initial funding of EUR 25 m for pre-clinical development will be covered by Vifor Pharma so that multiple targets or candidates can be moved forward simultaneously. The use of Evotec’s proprietary PanHunter bioinformatics platform, combined with high-quality data sets from thousands of human kidney disease patients will lead to the discovery of a number of promising therapeutic options in the kidney disease space. The clinical and commercial costs for any successful compounds are anticipated to be shared equally by both companies, with opt-out rights at each stage based on a predetermined profit share arrangement.

Dr Cord Dohrmann, Chief Scientific Officer at Evotec, commented: “We are excited to be entering into this highly complementary joint venture with Vifor Pharma. The partnership will help us maximise the potential of our early-stage target identification and candidate selection platform in nephrology by creating a joint company with one of the world leaders in nephrology clinical development and commercialisation. This will allow Evotec to participate in the value generation of clinical development.”

Stefan Schulze, COO and President of the Executive Committee at Vifor Pharma, commented: “The creation of the joint venture will enable us to identify new targets for renal therapies to bolster our pipeline. We will now have access to Evotec’s best-in-class drug discovery as well as pre-clinical capabilities without having to expand our own R&D infrastructure. By drawing on the unique strengths of Vifor Pharma and Evotec, this joint venture will create a powerful research platform and contribute to establish Vifor Pharma as a global leader in nephrology.”

ABOUT VIFOR PHARMA GROUP
Vifor Pharma Group is a global pharmaceuticals company headquartered in Switzerland. It aims to become the global leader in iron deficiency, nephrology and cardio-renal therapies. The company is the partner of choice for pharmaceuticals and innovative patient-focused solutions. The Vifor Pharma Group strives to help patients around the world with severe and chronic diseases lead better, healthier lives. The company develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products for precision patient care. The Vifor Pharma Group holds a leading position in all its core business activities and consists of the following companies: Vifor Pharma; Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma (a joint company with Fresenius Medical Care); Relypsa; and OM Pharma. The Vifor Pharma Group is listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX Swiss Exchange, VIFN, ISIN: CH0364749348).
For more information, please visit viforpharma.com.

ABOUT EVOTEC SE
Evotec is a drug discovery alliance and development partnership company focused on rapidly progressing innovative product approaches with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academics, patient advocacy groups and venture capitalists. We operate worldwide and our more than 2,800 employees provide the highest quality stand-alone and integrated drug discovery and development solutions. We cover all activities from target-to-clinic to meet the industry’s need for innovation and efficiency in drug discovery and development (EVT Execute). The Company has established a unique position by assembling top-class scientific experts and integrating state-of-the-art technologies as well as substantial experience and expertise in key therapeutic areas including neuronal diseases, diabetes and complications of diabetes, pain and inflammation, oncology, infectious diseases, respiratory diseases and fibrosis. On this basis, Evotec has built a broad and deep pipeline of approx. 100 co-owned product opportunities at clinical, pre-clinical and discovery stages (EVT Innovate). Evotec has established multiple long-term alliances with partners including Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, CHDI, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Sanofi, Takeda, UCB and others. For additional information please go to www.evotec.com and follow us on Twitter @Evotec.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Information set forth in this press release contains forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgement of Evotec as of the date of this press release. Such forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, and which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statements to reflect any change in our expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

Contact Evotec SE:
Gabriele Hansen, SVP Corporate Communications, Marketing & Investor Relations, Phone: +49.(0)40.56081-255, gabriele.hansen@evotec.com

SOURCE: Evotec AG

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