Evotec, Apeiron Biologics In Anti-tumor Pact

Evotec and Apeiron Biologics have entered into a discovery project on the Cbl-b target for an anti-tumor immune therapy. Financial terms were not disclosed. Evotec will apply its technologies in cellular assay development and ultra-high throughput screening (uHTS) to identify biologically active molecules from its corporate library that interact with Cbl-b.

Cbl-b plays a role in both the adaptive and the innate immune system and its manipulation can potentially enhance anti-tumor activities for both tumor antigen-specific cells and general features of tumor cells. The aim of the collaboration is to use the compounds identified by Evotec against this target or other relevant targets. Both companies will jointly optimize any compounds for preclinical and clinical development.

Dr. Werner Lanthaler, chief executive officer of Evotec, said, “We are very pleased to start a new project with Apeiron. It is strategically important to be involved in high promising early stage biotech projects.”

Dr. Hans Loibner, chief executive officer at Apeiron Biologics, said, “Apeiron’s substantial expertise in applied immunology and cancer immunotherapy plus Evotec’s remarkable skills in high-throughput methodology are an excellent basis for the successful identification and development of novel drugs that enhance the power of the immune system to combat cancer. This growing area has major clinical and commercial potential.”