Introduction:
Evotec SE has reached a milestone in its partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), receiving a payment of €20m. The partnership, which started in 2016, uses Evotec’s iPSC platform to create patient-specific cell models of neurological diseases. The partnership was upgraded in 2023, and a target-based program is now ready for Phase II clinical development.
- The partnership between Evotec SE and Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) uses Evotec’s iPSC platform to create patient-specific cell models of neurological diseases.
- BMS in-licensed a program from Evotec and is currently testing it as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and frontotemporal dementia.
- The program targets the eIF2 complex, a master regulator of the integrated stress response (ISR), which is overactivated in a wide range of brain disorders. The small molecule BMS-986419 reverses the causative mechanism underlying cognitive deficits and neurodegeneration by restoring normal ISR function, protein clearance, and cellular homeostasis.
- In addition to BMS-986419, BMS has another Alzheimer drug in Phase II testing that binds to MTBR-Tau 243 and has potential as a treatment for tau accumulation and cognitive impairment.
- BMS expects to increase the number of first-in-class compounds from 6 to 12 in its focus areas of oncology, cardiovascular, and neurologic disorders.
Conclusion:
The partnership between Evotec SE and BMS has reached a milestone with a €20m payment. The partnership uses Evotec’s iPSC platform to create patient-specific cell models of neurological diseases, and BMS is testing these models for the development of potential treatments for neurodegenerative disorders. The progress made in this partnership brings hope for the development of therapeutic modalities that can slow or prevent disease progression in these conditions.
