Evotec will provide drug discovery expertise covering in-vitro biology, medicinal chemistry and in-vitro and in-vivo pharmacology.
As part of the collaboration, Evotec will apply their integrated drug discovery expertise and technologies to identify interesting small molecules for the selected target.
Evotec and Merck said that under the contract, the molecules will be further optimised and progressed through lead optimisation to a pre-clinical candidate.
Evotec COO Mario Polywka said that they are proud to be part of the NEU(2) consortium and they are extremely pleased that Merck KGaA selected Evotec to collaborate on this interesting Drug Discovery Program which is a further recognition of the CNS disease expertise.
The NEU(2) consortium focuses on the development of novel therapies against neurological diseases with a specific focus on multiple sclerosis.