Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and Evotec Enter Agreement to Advance Drug Discovery for Novel IBD Therapies

Contact: Rachel Peifer
[email protected]

NEW YORK- January 10, 2024- The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation has joined forces with life science company Evotec SE, to help advance drug discovery for two innovative drug targets stemming from cutting-edge academic research for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

The agreement will help translate the academic findings into drug discovery activities to identify novel therapies addressing the unmet needs of IBD patients through the IBD Therapeutics Incubator. The Incubator is part of the Foundation’s IBD Ventures program and is a groundbreaking initiative intended to revolutionize the landscape of drug discovery for IBD. While potential new drug targets can be discovered in academic labs, most of them never advance since academic researchers typically lack the resources and expertise to create a drug around an identified target. Thanks to the Incubator, that’s changing.

Through this unprecedented program, academic researchers who discover a new target can collaborate with in-house Foundation drug discovery scientists who have several years of experience at pharmaceutical companies and have the expertise to develop a drug and get it to patients. Together, the academic and Foundation scientists plan and oversee these projects, which are progressed with Evotec, an internationally leading provider of drug discovery, development, and manufacturing solutions, that will identify one or more lead molecules or candidate drugs based on the new targets.

The projects that are part of this agreement focus on two critical issues affecting patients:

• Fibrosis: This involves the excessive accumulation of scar tissue in the intestinal wall, potentially leading to intestinal narrowing and the need for surgical intervention.
• Restoration of Intestinal Barrier Function: IBD often involves impaired intestinal barrier function, leading to increased intestinal permeability, also known as “leaky gut,” which could result in chronic intestinal inflammation.

“We are excited about this collaboration with Evotec as part of the Foundation’s IBD Therapeutics Incubator, because it will transform basic scientific research into patient solutions,” said Andrés Hurtado-Lorenzo, PhD, Senior Vice President, Translational Research & IBD Ventures at the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. “We’re actually driving research from idea to therapeutic product opportunity.”

Dr. Matthias Evers, Chief Business Officer of Evotec, commented: “Mission-driven foundations like the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation are an essential part of the healthcare ecosystem as they drive medical progress in areas of significant unmet need that would otherwise not be pursued. As we join forces within the Foundation in this second collaboration, we are fully aligned on our mission to create access to novel therapeutics and look forward to leveraging both Evotec’s translational experience as well as our fully integrated drug discovery powerhouse within the Foundation’s IBD Therapeutics Incubator.”

“We’re excited to initiate these drug discovery projects with top-notch academic investigators and the experienced scientists at Evotec,” said Jennifer Swantek, PhD, Director of the IBD Therapeutics Incubator program, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. “We’re eager to deliver much-needed, differentiated therapies to Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis patients as soon as possible.”

The IBD Therapeutics Incubator is made possible with generous support from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust and the Stolte Family.   

About the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation
The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation is the leading nonprofit organization focused on both research and patient support for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with the mission of curing Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis and improving the quality of life for the millions of Americans living with IBD. The Foundation’s work is dramatically accelerating the research process, while also providing extensive educational and support resources for patients and their families, medical professionals, and the public. For more information, visit crohnscolitisfoundation.org, call 888-694-8872, or email [email protected].

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.