- SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS MADE TOWARDS A BETA CELL REPLACEMENT THERAPY FOR PEOPLE WITH DIABETES
- EVOTEC RECEIVES € 3 M PAYMENT FROM SANOFI
HAMBURG, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / December 19, 2019 / Evotec SE (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, MDAX/TecDAX, ISIN: DE0005664809) today announced successful achievement of a third milestone in their diabetes research alliance with Sanofi ("TargetBCD"), resulting in a payment of € 3 m to Evotec.
This milestone was triggered after Evotec met pre-agreed critical criteria within the beta cell replacement therapy programme. The ultimate goal of the collaboration is to develop a beta cell replacement therapy for people with diabetes based on beta cells derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells.
Dr Cord Dohrmann, Chief Scientific Officer of Evotec, commented: "We are extremely pleased with the progress we are making on this beta cell therapy approach which has the potential to restore beta cell function and, thereby, address the root cause of diabetes rather than only its symptoms."
About the Evotec-Sanofi-Alliance in Diabetes ("TargetBCD")
In August 2015, Evotec and Sanofi announced a research alliance to develop a beta cell replacement therapy based on functional human beta cells derived from human stem cells for diabetes. Both companies have made significant contributions to this collaboration in terms of expertise, platforms and resources. The collaboration, which is a key value-driving relationship under the Company's EVT Innovate business segment, extends Evotec's metabolic disease and stem cell-based drug discovery programmes. To date, Evotec has received € 12 m in upfront and milestone payments from Sanofi, as well as substantial research funding.
About Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus ("diabetes") is a chronic incapacitating disease associated with severe lifelong conditions which require intensive monitoring and control, such as cardiovascular diseases, kidney diseases, nerve damage and eye diseases. At present, there is no cure for diabetes and only symptomatic treatment options are available. According to the International Diabetes Federation, approximately 425 million people worldwide suffered from diabetes in 2017 (2015: 415 million). The disease is a major burden to the global healthcare systems with $ 727 bn being spent on the treatment of diabetes in 2017 (2015: $ 673 bn).
About Beta Cells
Beta cells play a key role in the pathogenesis of diabetes. Beta cells reside in clusters of hormone producing cells ("islets") within the pancreas. They respond to elevated blood glucose levels (e.g. after a meal) by secreting the glucose lowering hormone insulin. In the type 1 form of diabetes ("T1D"), beta cells are destroyed by the patient's own immune system. As a result, T1D patients have to follow a life-long regimen of carefully-dosed insulin injections. In patients with type 2 diabetes ("T2D"), beta cells are functionally impaired and yet have to work in the presence of metabolic stress and increased work load due to an impaired tissue insulin response. T2D is progressive, and current therapeutic options cannot prevent the deterioration of beta cell function, eventually also creating a need for insulin injections. Despite the fact that insulin treatments are important and widely used for people with diabetes, they cannot fully mimic the normal control of blood glucose levels by normal beta cells necessary to avoid acute and long-term complications of diabetes. There is a critical medical need for novel therapeutic options which can restore beta cell mass and, thereby, reduce or eliminate the need for insulin injections. Furthermore, beta cell replacement therapy also has the potential to prevent or reverse the decline in beta cell function in type 2 diabetes.
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 2,900 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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