Evotec and Boehringer Ingelheim extend drug discovery collaboration

Germany-based, Evotec and Boehringer Ingelheim are expanding and extending the duration of their drug discovery collaboration initiated in September 2004.The collaboration that was originally projected to end in August 2007 is extended to the end of 2008.

Evotec specialises in finding new treatments for diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) and aims with Boehringer to jointly identify and develop pre-clinical development candidates suitable for future selection as drug candidates for clinical testing. While the original contract was exclusively targeted at therapeutics acting on G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs), the extension also includes targets from different target classes, including ion channels and enzymes.

Boehringer will have the ownership and global responsibility for all clinical development activities, manufacture and commercialisation of the compounds identified in the collaboration. As compensation for Evotec's contributions to the programme, Evotec receives ongoing research payments from Boehringer. In addition, Boehringer will pay to Evotec pre-clinical and clinical milestones as well as royalties on drugs discovered in the collaboration. The first project milestone was successfully announced in June 2005, less than one year after the start of this partnership.

Professor Mikael Dolsten, head of Pharma Research and Discovery at Boehringer Ingelheim, said: 'We appreciate the drug discovery performance with the first milestone achieved as well as the positive spirit in the team. This has led us to extend and expand our relationship further.'