DGAP-News: Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH & Co. KG
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Secarna Pharmaceuticals and Evotec expand
Munich/Martinsried and Hamburg, Germany, September 02, 2021 - Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH & Co. KG ("Secarna"), a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the discovery and development of next-generation antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapies to address challenging or previously undruggable targets via its LNAplus platform and Evotec SE ("Evotec") (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, MDAX/TecDAX, ISIN: DE0005664809), 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, have expanded their strategic partnership in the field of ASO-based therapeutics. The new agreement expands the ongoing successful collaboration between Secarna and Evotec. The parties are now also working on industry partners' discovery, research and development programs leveraging Secarna's industry-leading antisense oligonucleotide expertise with Evotec's unparalleled discovery and development capabilities. Using state-of-the-art bioinformatics (Oligofyer), Secarna will precisely design, screen, characterize and select ASO molecules, which specifically bind to the targeted pre-mRNA of the gene of interest. Through this process, Secarna will provide high-quality lead compounds for in-vitro and in-vivo proof-of-concept work to be performed for industry partners. Depending on the scope of the collaboration with the respective industrial partner, successful candidates may be progressed into IND-enabling studies and, ultimately, clinical development under such alliances. Terms and conditions of the collaboration were not disclosed. Alexander Gebauer, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Secarna Pharmaceuticals, said: "We are excited to further expand our successful alliance with Evotec. Integrating our proven expertise in the field of antisense discovery into Evotec's well established discovery and development platform, we form a strong foundation for enabling and strengthening third-party pipelines with our LNAplus ASOs. We are looking forward to continue working with Evotec to make new therapeutic options available to industry partners and the many patients who urgently need them." Dr. Craig Johnstone, Chief Operating Officer of Evotec, added: "We are delighted to open our strategic partnership with Secarna for third-party programs. Secarna's validated ASO technology provides a highly promising pathway to access targets commonly deemed 'undruggable'. Leveraging Secarna's LNAplus technology through the capacity and capabilities of Evotec's multimodality drug discovery platform will unlock a vast opportunity space for a broad range of partnerships with third parties to develop disease-modifying therapies in indications with high unmet medical need." In August 2020, Secarna and Evotec started their collaboration with the goal to build a co-owned LNAplus ASO pipeline based on a number of selected challenging targets across various indications. Leveraging the ongoing collaboration, this new joint offering has been initiated to create a unique opportunity for biotech and pharmaceutical companies to gain access to the companies' pipeline and, thus, enter the rapidly growing field of antisense therapeutics by partnering with Evotec and Secarna. About Secarna's proprietary drug discovery platform, LNAplus About Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH & Co. KG About Evotec SE Contact Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH & Co. KG Alexander Gebauer, MD, PhD Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH & Co. KG For media enquiries: Anne Hennecke/Vera Lang Evotec SE Gabriele Hansen Hinnerk Rohwedder
02.09.2021 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. |
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