Evotec AG has announced that it has signed an agreement with Merck to develop pre-clinical candidates for an undisclosed neurological disease as part of the NEU2 Consortium framework, which is partly funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium fuer Bildung und Forschung - BMBF).
In the work with Merck, Evotec will provide drug discovery expertise in vitro biology, medicinal chemistry and in vitro and in vivo pharmacology, to identify small molecules for the selected target.
Mario Polywka, COO of Evotec, said, “We are proud to be part of the NEU2 consortium and we are extremely pleased that Merck KGaA selected Evotec to collaborate on this interesting drug discovery programme, which is a further recognition of our CNS disease expertise.”
The NEU2 consortium, including Merck, Evotec AG, European ScreeningPort GmbH, Bionamics GmbH, and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf was successful in the nationwide BioPharma strategy competition set up by BMBF to promote partnerships between academic institutions, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in order to strengthen the pharmaceutical value chain in Germany.
The NEU2 consortium is focusing on the development of novel therapies against neurological diseases with a specific focus on multiple sclerosis.
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