TORONTO, Canada & HAMBURG, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners (“TIAP”) and Evotec SE (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, MDAX/TecDAX, ISIN: DE0005664809; NASDAQ: EVO) today announced that the two companies have expanded LAB150, their translational BRIDGE partnership, to include Amgen as a strategic partner. The expansion goes along with a combined investment of US$14M to expedite LAB150 programs towards the formation of new companies.
LAB150 was created by TIAP and Evotec in 2017 to accelerate Toronto’s academic research into market-ready products. The expanded agreement builds upon existing partnerships between TIAP, Evotec, and Amgen to support the development of disruptive therapeutics by TIAP’s member base and draws upon Evotec’s industrialized drug discovery platforms. Amgen will provide financial support for chosen LAB150 projects along with significant mentorship from their drug discovery and development teams. In addition, Amgen Ventures will evaluate LAB150-derived companies for venture investment. These combined efforts will amplify the efficiency and translational potential of academic research to develop Canadian intellectual property, novel therapies, and accelerate commercialization by Canada’s next generation of life science companies.
“As our strategic partner since 2019, Amgen has worked closely with TIAP, and we are thankful for their continued support as we drive the commercialization of breakthrough Canadian innovations. Together with Evotec, we look forward to collaborating with Amgen to bring enhanced expertise and capital to LAB150 to enable life science company creation,” said Parimal Nathwani, President and CEO of TIAP. “To have two globally recognized industry leaders, Amgen and Evotec, come together under the LAB150 umbrella bodes very well for the life science community in Canada and improving global health.”
According to Philip Tagari, Vice President of Research at Amgen, “Amgen’s ongoing four-year partnership with TIAP to support very early innovation in the Greater Toronto biotechnology ecosystem has revealed both the unique expertise within TIAP to curate novel projects with significant future medical and commercial potential, as well as the outstanding quality of the biomedical research performed in the network of world-class institutions that LAB150 accesses. This multi-year investment, in partnership with the long-term collaborators at Evotec, will provide a streamlined path for cutting-edge academic science in Ontario to transition into early-stage company formation and identification of novel candidates for clinical development, with the intent of providing meaningful medicines for patients with grievous illness.”
Dr. Thomas Hanke, EVP Head of Academic Partnerships at Evotec, added: “The LAB150 BRIDGE partnership has demonstrated its ability to successfully identify and validate high-potential therapeutic projects and drive them towards the formation of new companies. We very much look forward to accelerating our efforts further by leveraging Amgen’s impressive track record in the drug development space across therapeutic areas as well as in the formation of successful life science companies.”
With over US$7M invested, more than 150 projects evaluated, and ten projects currently being supported, LAB150 has established a strong track record. Having Amgen as a new partner in this program will ensure a robust 360-degree selection process and scale up LAB150’s capital-efficient investments to fast-track therapeutics. Moreover, the symbiotic partnership between the three partners around LAB150 will bring crucial expertise to the development and financing of emerging technologies.
ABOUT TIAP
TIAP is a leading provider of commercialization expertise, early-stage funding, and deal-brokering with industry and private investors in the health sciences domain. TIAP is a member-based organization made up of 10 member institutions – including the University of Toronto and affiliated teaching hospitals – with the mandate to drive the commercialization of their most promising research breakthroughs. TIAP’s active portfolio consists of both early-stage assets and more than 70 companies in sectors such as therapeutics, medical devices, and digital health/AI. The companies have raised more than $1B from global investors and created more than 1,000 jobs. TIAP is partially supported through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. For more information, please visit www.tiap.ca and follow us on www.twitter.com/TIAPToronto. For more information on LAB150, please visit https://lab150.com.
ABOUT EVOTEC SE
Evotec is a life science company with a unique business model that delivers on its mission to discover and develop highly effective therapeutics and make them available to the patients. The Company’s multimodality platform comprises a unique combination of innovative technologies, data and science for the discovery, development, and production of first-in-class and best-in- class pharmaceutical products. Evotec leverages this “Data-driven R&D Autobahn to Cures” for proprietary projects and within a network of partners including all Top 20 Pharma and over 800 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, as well as other healthcare stakeholders. Evotec has strategic activities in a broad range of currently underserved therapeutic areas, including e.g. neurology, oncology, as well as metabolic and infectious diseases. Within these areas of expertise, Evotec aims to create the world-leading co-owned pipeline for innovative therapeutics and has to-date established a portfolio of more than 200 proprietary and co-owned R&D projects from early discovery to clinical development. Evotec operates globally with more than 4,500 highly qualified people. The Company’s 16 sites offer highly synergistic technologies and services and operate as complementary clusters of excellence. For additional information please go to www.evotec.com and follow us on Twitter @Evotec and LinkedIn.
About Amgen
Amgen is committed to unlocking the potential of biology for patients suffering from serious illnesses by discovering, developing, manufacturing, and delivering innovative human therapeutics. This approach begins by using tools like advanced human genetics to unravel the complexities of disease and understand the fundamentals of human biology.
Amgen focuses on areas of high unmet medical need and leverages its expertise to strive for solutions that improve health outcomes and dramatically improve people's lives. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen has grown to be one of the world's leading independent biotechnology companies, has reached millions of patients around the world and is developing a pipeline of medicines with breakaway potential.
Amgen is one of the 30 companies that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is also part of the Nasdaq-100 index. In 2021, Amgen was named one of the 25 World's Best Workplaces™ by Fortune and Great Place to Work™ and one of the 100 most sustainable companies in the world by Barron's.
For more information, visit www.amgen.com and follow us on www.twitter.com/amgen.
Forward Looking Statements (from Evotec)
This announcement contains forward-looking statements concerning future events, including the proposed offering and listing of Evotec’s securities. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “should,” “target,” “would” and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements include comments regarding Evotec’s expectations for revenues, Group EBITDA and unpartnered R&D expenses. These forward-looking statements are based on the information available to, and the expectations and assumptions deemed reasonable by Evotec at the time these statements were made. No assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates, which are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of Evotec. Evotec expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Evotec’s expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.
