Evotec SE, a life science company, has joined forces with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on research and patient support for inflammatory bowel disease. Under the collaboration, Evotec teams up with the Foundation’s IBD Therapeutics Incubator program that facilitates collaboration between the foundation, academic researchers, and industry partners to translate basic research that was performed by academic researchers and identified by the foundation into medical innovations for IBD patients.

The collaboration leverages Evotec’s integrated R&D platform to advance drug discovery for two innovative drug targets that address major unmet medical needs in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis: Fibrosis, the excessive accumulation of scar tissue in the intestinal wall, and impaired intestinal barrier function, which leads to increased intestinal permeability, also known as “leaky gut.”

Matthias Evers, chief business officer of Evotec, said, “Mission-driven foundations like the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation are an essential part of the healthcare ecosystem as they drive medical progress in areas of significant unmet need that would otherwise not be pursued. As we join forces within the Foundation in this second collaboration, we are fully aligned on our mission to create access to novel therapeutics and look forward to leveraging both Evotec’s translational experience as well as our fully integrated drug discovery powerhouse within the Foundation’s IBD Therapeutics Incubator.”

“We are excited about this collaboration with Evotec as part of the Foundation’s IBD Therapeutics Incubator because it will transform ideas to therapeutic product opportunities and scientific research into patient solutions,” said Andrés Hurtado Lorenzo, senior vice president, translational research & IBD ventures at the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation.