Evotec and LEO Pharma partner on dermatologicals research

German biotech Evotec (EVT: Xetra) has entered into a new integrated drug discovery alliance with Denmark’s LEO Pharma, a global leader in medical dermatology, adding to a string of deals the German company has signed this year.

The collaboration goal is to generate new leads against innovative targets for a range of dermatological conditions and initially runs for two years. No financial details of this fee-for-service collaboration were disclosed, but Evotec’s shares edged up 0.9% to 21.29 euros by around 1pm today, having hit a high of 21.97 euros earlier.

The collaboration leverages Evotec's industry-leading hit identification platform including the extensive screening, structural biology and fragment-based drug design capabilities and expertise together with LEO Pharma's 110-year track record of drug development and advancing science in dermatology. Evotec's integrated discovery scientists will work in a joint team with scientists from LEO Pharma. The alliance will receive further support with high-value drug development and discovery ADME-Tox services.

"We are delighted to partner with LEO Pharma on this exciting project, which leverages our industry-leading hit generation platform. Working together, we are convinced we will find innovative therapeutic approaches to dermatological conditions with a high unmet medical need," commented Evotec’s chief operating officer Dr Mario Polywka.

Privately-held LEO Pharma’s Dr Thorsten Thormann, vice president research, said: "Innovation through partnerships plays a key role in LEO Pharma's approach to developing new medicines. We are confident that our alliance with Evotec will further strengthen our research and help us expedite the discovery of novel small molecule therapeutics for skin diseases, for which there are large unmet medical needs, thus helping even more patients in the future."