Evotec AG has entered a strategic alliance with Novo Nordisk to discover and develop novel small molecule therapies to treat diabetes and obesity, as well as co-morbidities such as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cardiovascular diseases, and diabetic kidney disease. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Evotec will apply its drug discovery platform, especially in ligand-based design, to design novel, safe and efficacious products to address diabetes and associated morbidities. Once suitable preclinical candidates are selected, Novo Nordisk will use Evotec’s INDiGO platform to move through preclinical studies to enter IND registration.

Dr. Mario Polywka, chief operating officer of Evotec, said, “Novo Nordisk is one of the largest, most successful Pharma companies in the world with a proven leadership position in diabetes and obesity. The integration of our industry-leading discovery and development platform with Novo Nordisk’s deep disease expertise will create a powerful combination that we hope will create a difference for patients with diabetes or obesity. We very much look forward to working with such an innovative partner.”

Dr. Marcus Schindler, senior vice president, Global Drug Discovery, Novo Nordisk, added,”Evotec is a highly esteemed company in the field of small molecules and we are very excited about the collaboration. Novo Nordisk is confident that this will open up new possibilities in small molecule drug discovery and development targeting diabetes and obesity with the potential to make a difference for people living with these serious diseases.”