Solvay Pharmaceuticals signs contracts with Evotec

Solvay Pharmaceutical has signed two contracts with Evotec, a firm focused on the discovery and development of small-molecule based compounds through partnerships and discovery programmes.

The first agreement is a partnership between the companies for fragment-based drug discovery, through which Solvay will gain access to Evotec’s proprietary screening platform and fragment library. Evotec will receive a licensing fee for granting this access.

According to the second agreement, the company’s existing contract for library synthesis will be extended for 12 months from the start of this year, with Evotec continuing to supply Solvay with its chemical libraries to screen against targets for drug discovery purposes.

Professor De Chris Kruse, discovery programme manager at Solvay Pharmaceuticals, said: “The design of multi-step libraries is the result of a collaborative partnership through which the specific strengths of the two companies are leveraged to achieve optimal chances of success.”

He added that the expertise of scientists at Evotec in medicinal chemistry and multi-step focused library synthesis, together with the company past record of attaining project milestone, has cemented its role in Solvay’s drug discovery process.

Earlier this month, Solvay Pharmaceuticals announced an expansion of its neuroscience development and commercialisation agreement with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals to include research.