Bristol Myers Squibb and Evotec Extend Neuroscience Pact

Bristol Myers Squibb has exercised its option to enter into an exclusive global license agreement with Germany-based Evotec, a drug discovery company, for selected late-stage discovery programs that were developed and progressed from a collaboration between the companies.

According to a July 11, 2023 press release, the companies originally formed a neurodegeneration partnership in 2016, which proved to be highly productive. Under the collaboration, Evotec and Bristol Myers Squibb generated a pipeline of discovery-to-clinical-stage programs. The current licensing agreement expands on that original collaboration, extending the partnership to another eight years.

Under the license agreement, Bristol Myers Squibb has selected a number of programs (not disclosed) that were developed and progressed in a short time frame using Evotec’s precision medicine platforms. Based on this achievement, Evotec get a $40 million payment and is eligible to earn performance-based milestone payments. The company is also eligible to receive tiered royalties up to low double-digit percentages based on product sales, according to the press release.

“This license agreement will further bolster our joint pipeline of programs targeting several neurodegenerative conditions. We are confident that the strong collaboration of the experienced teams at Evotec and Bristol Myers Squibb will make novel innovative treatment options available to patients living with a broad range of neurodegenerative conditions,” said Cord Dohrmann, chief scientific officer, Evotec, in the release.

Source: Evotec