Evotec has launched beLAB2122, a US$20 million BRIDGE (Biomedical Research, Innovation & Development Generation Efficiency) collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb. beLAB2122 brings together academic institutions from the Rhine-Main-Neckar region of Germany with the goal of efficiently advancing first-in-class therapeutic options across all therapeutic areas and formats into investable drug discovery and early development projects.
Supported by BioRN, the Life Science Cluster Rhein Neckar, beLAB2122 brings together the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the Goethe University Frankfurt, Heidelberg University and the University of Tübingen in one collaboration with industry partners.
Evotec’s BRIDGE collaborations provide a framework to validate academic projects in collaborations with pharma and funders which may lead to the formation of jointly owned new companies. Since 2016, Evotec has established several BRIDGE collaborations with a variety of academic, pharma, and venture capital partners across Europe and North America.
Together, Evotec and Bristol Myers Squibb intend to tap into Europe’s academic clusters of excellence in the life sciences, both validating and advancing innovative research in therapeutics and related technologies from academia to enable the formation of new, collectively owned spin-out companies.
Dr Werner Lanthaler, Chief Executive Officer of Evotec, said: “We are very excited about the launch of beLAB2122, a truly transformative framework that leverages first-class science from one of Europe’s leading life science cluster regions with lots of potential to generate medical progress. We look forward to unlocking this potential by using our ‘data-driven R&D Autobahn to Cures’ to further validate and develop these approaches to translate the promising early-stage research into the medicines of the future.”
Dr Rupert Vessey, Executive Vice President and President, Research and Early Development at Bristol Myers Squibb commented: “We are excited by the opportunity to support beLAB2122 in the translation of novel scientific research from these leading German academic institutions. Given their past experience with successful BRIDGEs, we believe Evotec is well-equipped to interpret the many lines of scientific inquiry resulting from this collaboration and use its proprietary platforms to deliver quality data that may one day lead to potentially novel therapies for patients.”
