Weekly TechBio News (part II)
MetaphysicalCells: A newsletter about Science, Technology and AI Drug Discovery
Below is a synthesis of key trends and insights from the latest TechBio updates:
➡️ Weekly TechBio News (part II) (🔐).
Weekly TechBio News (part II) (🔐)
💈 Evotec SE
On April 24, 2025, Evotec announced substantial progress in its strategic research collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb, which aims to develop a high-value molecular glue-based pipeline for addressing unmet medical needs. Evotec will receive payments totaling $75M based on performance-based and program-based achievements (BMS Pays Evotec $75M for Molecular Glue Research Progress).
The collaboration, initiated in 2018 and expanded in 2022, integrates Evotec’s advanced multi-omics screening capabilities, AI-supported data analytics, and drug design expertise with Bristol Myers Squibb’s extensive library of cereblon E3 ligase modulators (CELMoDs), for identifying novel molecular glue degraders for high-value targets in oncology and beyond. Molecular glue degraders are compounds that induce interactions between an E3 ubiquitin ligase and a molecular target, and the induced interaction results in ubiquitination and subsequent degradation of the recruited protein.
Evotec SE (ETR: EVT) is a global biotechnology company committed to advancing drug discovery and development with a premium data analysis (SaaS) platform, Evotec’s PanHunter (a multi-omics data analysis platform), that is a web-based platform that combines peer-reviewed statistical analysis algorithms with the potential for ML and AI capabilities. By working with a user-friendly graphical interface, it enables in-depth analysis across multi-omics data sets with a flexibility that can address just a few entries or correlate millions of data points with ease. They also have a proprietary molecular patient database (E.MPD, Evotec‘s Molecular Patient Database) with over 15k samples and the PanOmics platform with over 200k samples (multi-omics data generation at an industrialized scale).
Apart from the Bristol Myers Squibb collaboration just mentioned at Evotec they also have the following collaborations:
🖇️ In January 2014, Owkin and Evotec entered into an AI-powered strategic partnership in oncology, immunology and inflammation.
🖇️ On April 30, 2024, Evotec and Bayer (ETR: BAYN) announced that they have updated the focus of their strategic collaboration to developing innovative precision treatments for cardiovascular diseases (Bayer and Evotec collaborate to advance precision cardiology).
🖇️ On May 28, 2024, Evotec announced the extension of its 20-year collaboration with CHDI Foundation Inc, a privately funded nonprofit biomedical research organization exclusively dedicated to collaboratively developing therapeutics that will substantially improve the lives of those affected by Huntington’s disease (Evotec and CHDI Foundation extend strategic drug discovery collaboration in Huntington’s disease).
🖇️ On June 03, 2024, Evotec and QIAGEN (NYSE: QGEN) announced a collaboration to leverage QIAGEN’s OmicSoft Land Databases through Evotec’s PanOmics data access and analysis platform PanHunter (Evotec and QIAGEN enter software collaboration for enhanced multi-omics data insights).
🖇️ On July 8, 2024, Evotec announced that its biologics segment, Just – Evotec Biologics, Inc, has expanded its strategic partnership with Sandoz (SWX: SDZ) (Just – Evotec Biologics expands tech partnership for biosimilars with Sandoz).
🖇️ On July 10, 2024, Evotec entered into a multi-year master research collaboration and option and license agreement with Pfizer. Under the agreement, Evotec and Pfizer (ETR: PFE) will initially focus on early discovery research for metabolic and infectious diseases (Evotec and Pfizer collaborate to advance drug discovery in France).
🖇️ At the end of July 2024, SynaptixBio announced the expansion of its collaboration with Evotec, which began in April 2022, for the purpose of expanding the pipeline with additional drug candidates for the treatment of hypomyelination with atrophy of the basal ganglia and cerebellum, also called H-ABC (SynaptixBio Ltd and Evotec SE expand collaboration).
Very briefly, Evotec’s most advanced programs (with various partners) are:
🖋️ Neuroscience & Pain
CNTX 6016 Pain (CB2) in collaboration with Centrexion in Phase I, and
EVT8683/BMS986419 Neurodegeneration (elF2b) in collaboration with BMS in Phase I:
A program, EVT8683, was in-licensed by Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) in September 2021 as BMS-986419. Following a successful Phase I study Bristol Myers Squibb announced that a Phase II study for BMS-986419 is scheduled to commence in 2024.
🖋️ Metabolic
BAY3401016 Alport Syndrome (Sema3A) in collaboration with Bayer (ETR: BAYN) in Phase I.
🖋️ Immunology & Inflammation
TPM502 Celiac Disease in collaboration with Topas Therapeutics, Phase II,
TPM203 Pemphigus Vulgaris in collaboration with Topas Therapeutics, Phase I, and
EVT401 Immunology & Inflammation (P2X7) in collaboration with CONBA Group in Phase I.
🖋️ Oncology
CT7001 (CDK7) in collaboration with Carrick in Phase II,
AV078 Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (mTORC1) in collaboration with Aeovian Pharmaceuticals in Phase II,
IMT-009 (CD161) in collaboration with Immunitas in Phase I, and
EVT801 (VEGF3) in collaboration with Kazia Therapeutics in Phase I.
Moreover, Evotec SE just unveiled new strategy and provided 2025 guidance bolstered by strong Q4 2024 results (April 2025). In particular:
📍 Group revenues increased by 2% to € 797.0 M (2023: € 781.4 M); Q4 2024 revenues increased by 10% to € 221.2 M from € 201.3 M in Q4 2023,
📍 Evotec’s Just – Evotec Biologics segment saw impressive growth, with revenues rising by 71% year-over-year, contributing € 185.6 M (2023: € 108.4 m) to the overall topline,
📍 Total Shared R&D revenues decreased by 9% to € 611.4 M (2023: € 673.0 M); Demand still affected by temporary Pharma restructuring and selective funding for Biotech,
📍 Expansion of technology partnership with Sandoz and new customers for long-term development and commercial manufacturing in Biologics,
📍 Progress and extension of multi-year collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb (“BMS”) in neuroscience and targeted protein degradation,
📍 New technology development partnership with Novo Nordisk to support next-generation cell therapies (Evotec and Novo Nordisk team up on cell therapies, September 2024,
📍 New multi-year master research collaboration with Pfizer, initially focusing on early discovery research for metabolic and infectious diseases.