Evotec Receives German Grant for Potential Therapy Against COVID-19

Evotec SE has been selected by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to receive a grant for the development of EVT075, a potential first-in-class immunomodulatory therapy against COVID-19. Evotec is one of three companies receiving a highly competitive grant as part of a new initiative by the BMBF to support the clinical development of novel therapeutic candidates against COVID-19.

Under the €7.5 million ($8.5 million) grant, Evotec will use clinical material manufactured within its Just – Evotec Biologics manufacturing platform to initiate the clinical development of a potentially highly potent immunomodulatory molecule.
 
Utilizing the assays developed as part of the Company’s global Pandemic Preparedness and Rapid Response initiative “PRROTECT”, Evotec has demonstrated potent activity of the molecule in pre-clinical in-vitro studies. The molecule has shown great potential to produce a powerful antiviral response against infections with SARS-CoV-2. By amplifying the immune response against coronavirus infections, the molecule can potentially reduce the viral load. Thus, the early administration of this biologic may significantly lower the risk of a severe progression of COVID-19 that requires hospitalization of patients.

Evotec intends to use the grant to initiate clinical studies assessing the safety and efficacy of the compound and to determine the optimal dose-range in healthy volunteers as well as COVID-19 patients.

Dr. Werner Lanthaler, chief executive officer of Evotec, commented, “As we enter the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become apparent that besides continuing to build up immunity by way of vaccinations, effective therapeutics against the disease are also urgently needed. By amplifying the immune response and lowering the viral load, the molecule can help reduce the share of people requiring inpatient treatment, and thus the enormous strain the pandemic is putting on the global health systems. Having leveraged our pandemic preparedness platform ‘PRROTECT’, we are excited to use the grant from the BMBF to bring a potential COVID-19 therapeutic into the clinic.”