The collaboration, Bridge Lab031, gives Evotec access to resources that can be used over the next three years while the companies focus on generating small molecules programs.
Evotec and Sanofi have worked together previously to support academic research through its Bridge programs. Lab031, the name referring to departmental code at University of Toulouse where Sanofi and Evotec started its partnership, will allow Evotec to validate translational ideas quickly by supporting more global initiatives.
Per the agreement, Evotec will use its discovery technologies to facilitate drug discovery and development more efficiently. Sanofi will have the option to take on development responsibility of each project upon milestone achievement.
The Bridge initiatives were established by the two companies as a way to combine academic research, biotechnology, and capital into the pharmaceutical industry. The initiatives were designed to accelerate translational projects from formulation across pre-clinical or proof-of-concept stages.
Three other Bridge initiatives have been created, Lab282, Lab150, and Lab591, each of which worked to set up researchers with affiliated hospitals and universities.
Sanofi and Evotec have been in exclusive partnerships outside the Bridge initiatives. The two companies recently signed a $74m agreement as part of which Evotec took on Sanofi’s infectious disease unit to develop new anti-infectives.
