Milestone payment reflects continued progress under strategic research collaboration addressing high-need patient populations
FDA clearance of IND application triggered a US$ 5 m milestone payment to Evotec
HAMBURG, DE / ACCESS Newswire / November 12, 2025 / Evotec SE (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, SDAX/TecDAX, Prime Standard, ISIN: DE0005664809, WKN 566480; NASDAQ:EVO) today announced that it has received a US$ 5 m milestone payment from Bristol Myers Squibb, following the acceptance of an Investigational New Drug ("IND") application by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") in their strategic protein degradation partnership. The drug candidate, a cereblon E3 ligase modulator ("CELMoD") was developed under the collaboration, and a Phase 1 clinical trial is expected to begin in 2026.
Initiated in 2018, the collaboration combines Evotec's high-performance multi-omics screening as well as AI-supported data analytics and drug design capabilities with Bristol Myers Squibb's industry-leading library of CELMoDs. The collaboration, expanded in 2022, continues to deliver on its goal to identify novel molecular glue degraders for high-value targets in the field of oncology and beyond.
Dr Cord Dohrmann, Chief Scientific Officer of Evotec, commented: "We are excited to have reached this important achievement in our collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb, and to move one step closer to bringing the first compound of our molecular glue degrader pipeline to the clinic. This IND acceptance represents not only a major scientific and regulatory milestone but also validates the strength of our collaboration and emphasizes the enormous potential for delivering multiple first-in-class products to market."
About molecular glue degraders
Conventional small molecule therapeutics work via a drug-induced interference with a protein activity. This limitation to agonistic or antagonistic functions renders about 90% of proteins "undruggable". Also, conventional small molecules only work while they are actively binding to the receptor, which typically requires a treatment regimen consisting of one or even several carefully dosed medications every day.
Molecular glue degraders are compounds that induce interactions between an E3 ubiquitin ligase and a molecular target. The induced interaction results in ubiquitination and subsequent degradation of the recruited protein. Through this mechanism of action molecular glues are not restricted to the agonistic/antagonistic features of a protein, thus massively expanding the range of the druggable proteome. Also, the molecular glue itself is not degraded in the process and can trigger the degradation process several times over, thus leading to longer-lasting therapeutic effects.
About Evotec's strategic collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb in molecular glues
In 2018, Evotec entered a long-term strategic drug discovery and development collaboration in the field of molecular glues with Celgene, now Bristol Myers Squibb. Bristol Myers Squibb is a leader in this field based on its unique library of CELMoDs. The collaboration aims to discover and develop a leading pipeline of molecular glue degraders for a range of therapeutic indications leveraging all of Evotec's proprietary PanOmics and PanHunter platforms as well as AI/ML-based drug discovery and development capabilities.
Evotec applies high-end proteomics and transcriptomics at industrial scale to profile and select promising drug candidates based on comprehensive cell biological profiles. Evotec's leading PanOmics screening capabilities are delivering unmatched throughput. The selection of the most promising candidates for drug development is facilitated by Evotec's PanOmics data analysis platform PanHunter. PanHunter supports the integration and analysis of these data sets and thereby enables the selection of the most promising CELMoDs for further progression into lead optimization.
About Evotec SE
Evotec is a life science company that is pioneering the future of drug discovery and development. By integrating breakthrough science with AI-driven innovation and advanced technologies, we accelerate the journey from concept to cure - faster, smarter, and with greater precision.
Our expertise spans small molecules, biologics, cell therapies and associated modalities, supported by proprietary platforms such as Molecular Patient Databases, PanOmics and iPSC-based disease modeling.
With flexible partnering models tailored to our customers' needs, we work with all Top 20 Pharma companies, over 800 biotechs, academic institutions, and healthcare stakeholders. Our offerings range from standalone services to fully integrated R&D programs and long-term strategic partnerships, combining scientific excellence with operational agility.
Through Just - Evotec Biologics, we redefine biologics development and manufacturing to improve accessibility and affordability.
With a strong portfolio of over 100 proprietary R&D assets, most of them being co-owned, we focus on key therapeutic areas including oncology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, neurology, and immunology.
Evotec's global team of more than 4,800 experts operates from sites in Europe and the U.S., offering complementary technologies and services as synergistic centers of excellence. Learn more at www.evotec.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X/Twitter @Evotec .
Forward-looking statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements concerning future events, including the proposed offering and listing of Evotec's securities. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "should," "target," "would" and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements include comments regarding Evotec's expectations for revenues, Group EBITDA and unpartnered R&D expenses. These forward-looking statements are based on the information available to, and the expectations and assumptions deemed reasonable by Evotec at the time these statements were made. No assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates, which are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of Evotec. Evotec expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Evotec's expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.
For further information, please contact:
Media
Susanne Kreuter
VP Head of Strategic Marketing
Susanne.Kreuter@evotec.com
Investor Relations
Volker Braun
EVP Head of Global Investor Relations & ESG
Volker.Braun@evotec.com
SOURCE: Evotec SE
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