Bayer and Evotec have updated the focus of their strategic collaboration to developing innovative precision treatments for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).

The collaboration aims to identify and validate novel targets, and to build a portfolio of precision cardiology therapeutics by leveraging Evotec's disease modelling capabilities using human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). iPSCs provide unique opportunities to identify new disease mechanisms and pathways for novel treatments.

Under the terms of the agreement, both companies will contribute drug targets and a comprehensive set of high-quality technology platforms for the development of innovative treatment options.

“This development takes our long-standing collaboration with Evotec to a new level, and has the added benefit of lessons learned from working together the past 12 years,” said Juergen Eckhardt, MD, Head of Business Development & Licensing at Bayer’s Pharmaceuticals Division. 

“We remain committed to develop innovative therapies for patients in need and to tackle the high burden of cardiovascular disease,” Eckhardt added.

“Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally. The refocused collaboration will leverage Evotec's industrialised iPSC-based disease modelling platform and Bayer’s leadership in cardiology to advance a portfolio of innovative therapies for cardiovascular diseases with high unmet medical needs. This complements our focus on disease areas where we can truly improve the standard of care by delivering superior therapeutic solutions to patients in need,” said Dr Christian Rommel, Head of Research and Development at Bayer’s Pharmaceuticals Division.

“To move the treatment paradigm beyond disease management, it is important to advance our understanding of the disease-relevant molecular mechanisms underlying cardiovascular diseases,” said Dr Cord Dohrmann, Chief Scientific Officer of Evotec. 

“Our approach is based on highly validated disease models to identify novel targets and profile drug candidates more comprehensively for their efficacy and safety. Intervening with these disease-associated mechanisms more comprehensively will enable the development of more effective, disease-modifying therapies with higher relevance for CVD to respond to the substantial unmet need associated with cardiovascular diseases,” Dohrmann stated.

Bayer and Evotec will share responsibilities during the pre-clinical development of potential clinical candidates. Bayer will be responsible for any subsequent clinical development and commercialisation.