Biotech Acceleration: Evotec and Claris Ventures Unite to Propel Portfolio Companies Forward

Biotech Acceleration: Evotec and Claris Ventures Unite to Propel Portfolio Companies Forward

(IN BRIEF) Evotec and Claris Ventures have formed a strategic partnership to accelerate the progress of biotech ventures in Claris’s portfolio into clinical trials. This collaboration allows Claris’s portfolio companies, focused on biotech ventures nearing clinical trials, streamlined access to Evotec’s comprehensive platform for pre-clinical and clinical development. With Evotec’s support, particularly showcased through the success of their collaboration with Claris’s portfolio company, IAMA Therapeutics, in advancing the IAMA-6 programme, the partnership aims to expedite the development of transformative drug candidates across Claris’s expanding portfolio, fostering innovation and addressing unmet medical needs.

(PRESS RELEASE) HAMBURG/ TURIN, 6-Mar-2024 — /EuropaWire/ — Evotec SE (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, MDAX/TecDAX, ISIN: DE0005664809; NASDAQ: EVO), a biotechnology company that is committed to advancing drug discovery and development, and biotech venture capital firm Claris Ventures (“Claris”) have announced a groundbreaking partnership aimed at expediting the journey of Claris’s portfolio companies into clinical trials through Evotec’s comprehensive platform.

With a focus on biotech companies poised for clinical trials, Claris’s portfolio spans nine ventures across Italy, Switzerland, and the UK. Leveraging its resources and expertise, Claris equips these companies with the necessary capabilities and connections to navigate pre-clinical studies and conduct first-in-human (“FIH”) trials.

The collaboration builds upon Evotec’s ongoing support for Claris’s portfolio company, IAMA Therapeutics (“IAMA”), a Genoese Biotech firm dedicated to pioneering treatments for brain disorders. Evotec has already facilitated IAMA’s pre-clinical journey, including INDiGO services for IAMA’s flagship programme, IAMA-6, resulting in a successful Clinical Trial Application (“CTA”) in December 2023.

In January 2024, IAMA marked a significant milestone with the commencement of dosing in a Phase I first-in-human study, sponsored by IAMA and managed by Evotec. This study aims to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and food effect of IAMA-6. Evotec further supports the initiative by manufacturing the drug substance and product at its Campus Levi-Montalcini in Verona, Italy.

Expanding upon this success, the newly established alliance grants Claris’s remaining portfolio companies seamless access to Evotec’s comprehensive suite of services. Evotec will provide ongoing support and oversight through a structured governance model to ensure the smooth progression of integrated programmes.

Dr Matthias Evers, Chief Business Officer of Evotec, expressed enthusiasm for the partnership, stating: “We are excited to enter this agreement with our partners at Claris. Streamlining the process to the clinic is one of the major efficiency unlocks of our fully integrated R&D platform. As Claris’s portfolio grows and matures, we look forward to the opportunity to provide further companies with simplified access to our full stack of services and to help deliver their potential to the fullest.”

Pietro Puglisi, Managing Partner at Claris, echoed Dr Evers’s sentiment, remarking: “We are pleased to embark on this strategic partnership with Evotec. The agreement enhances our ability to expedite the progression of our portfolio companies from discovery to clinical stages. Evotec’s integrated services have proven instrumental in advancing IAMA Therapeutics’ lead programme, IAMA-6, and we look forward to leveraging their expertise to further accelerate the development of transformative drug candidates within our expanding portfolio. This collaboration aligns with Claris’s commitment to fostering innovation and delivering impactful solutions to address unmet medical needs.”

ABOUT CLARIS VENTURES

Claris Ventures SGR is a venture capital firm based in Italy, founded in 2019. Its first fund under management, Claris Biotech I, with €85 million under management, is focused on early-stage investments in high potential biopharma companies arisen from the Italian R&D ecosystem – both local and international. The firm identifies and supports innovation in the pharmaceutical space, investing in new companies with transformational drugs under development. It aims at the highest impact possible on highly unmet patients need, building value around strong science. Claris Ventures SGR pursuit for high potential projects involves every research center, clinical structure and company in the Italian life sciences network, whether the founding team is based in Italy or it includes Italian scientists abroad who have strong links with Italy. For additional information please go to www.clarisventures.com  and follow us on LinkedIn.

ABOUT EVOTEC SE
Evotec is a life science company with a unique business model that delivers on its mission to discover and develop highly effective therapeutics and make them available to the patients. The Company’s multimodality platform comprises a unique combination of innovative technologies, data and science for the discovery, development, and production of first-in-class and best-in-class pharmaceutical products. Evotec leverages this “Data-driven R&D Autobahn to Cures” for proprietary projects and within a network of partners including all Top 20 Pharma and over 800 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, as well as other healthcare stakeholders. Evotec has strategic activities in a broad range of currently underserved therapeutic areas, including e.g. neurology, oncology, as well as metabolic and infectious diseases. Within these areas of expertise, Evotec aims to create the world leading co-owned pipeline for innovative therapeutics and has to-date established a portfolio of more than 200 proprietary and co-owned R&D projects from early discovery to clinical development. Evotec operates globally with more than 5,000 highly qualified people. The Company’s 17 sites offer highly synergistic technologies and services and operate as complementary clusters of excellence.
For additional information please go to www.evotec.com and follow us on X/Twitter @Evotec and LinkedIn.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS 

This announcement contains forward-looking statements concerning future events, including the proposed offering and listing of Evotec’s securities. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “should,” “target,” “would” and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements include comments regarding Evotec’s expectations for revenues, Group EBITDA and unpartnered R&D expenses. These forward-looking statements are based on the information available to, and the expectations and assumptions deemed reasonable by Evotec at the time these statements were made. No assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates, which are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of Evotec. Evotec expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Evotec’s expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.

For further information, please contact the Corporate Communications Team:
Hinnerk Rohwedder, Director of Global Corporate Communications, hinnerk.rohwedder@evotec.com;
Gabriele Hansen, SVP Head of Global Corporate Communications, gabriele.hansen@evotec.com, www.evotec.com

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