Evotec and Celgene Corp. have entered into a third strategic drug discovery and development partnership in the field of targeted protein degradation.

In this collaboration, the companies will leverage Evotec’s Panomics platform to identify drug targets that are traditionally difficult to track. Evotec’s Panomics platform applies high-end proteomics and transcriptomics at industrial scale to profile and select promising drug candidates on the basis of comprehensive cell biological profiles. The platform also includes an integrated data analytics platform, “PanHunter”, which facilitates the analysis and interpretation of large ‘omics’ data sets.

The collaboration will leverage Evotec’s proteomics experts at its sites in Munich, Germany, and Toulouse, France. Evotec will receive an undisclosed upfront payment as well as milestones and royalties on each licensed program. Celgene holds exclusive rights for all programs resulting from this collaboration.

Dr. Cord Dohrmann, chief scientific officer of Evotec, said, “We are very excited to enter into this third partnership with Celgene, opening opportunities to expand beyond neurodegeneration and oncology. Addressing traditionally undrugable targets via targeted protein degradation is a highly attractive and promising approach which has not been explored systematically.”