Evotec, Roche collaborate to develop oncology biomarkers

Evotec has entered into an oncology research and development agreement with Roche to organize multiple protein-activity based biomarker programs for Roche’s therapeutic antibodies or small molecule inhibitors under development.

Under the agreement, Evotec will use PhosphoScout platform for discovery of protein-phosphorylation’s that predict favorable dosage and efficacy of targeted cancer drugs in patients.

Evotec’s PhosphoScout platform uses mass spectrometry for identifying and quantifying thousands of cellular phosphorylation events on a global scale.

However, Roche expects to conduct clinical trials and will evaluate the development of companion diagnostics for patient stratification.

The tie up allows Evotec to get an undisclosed up-front and success-based payments from Roche for each program.

Roche Pharma Research and Exploratory Development Oncology global head Mike Burgess said they are pleased to collaborate with Evotec and benefit from the PhosphoScout technology to identify appropriate pharmacodynamics and patient stratification biomarkers.

“These biomarkers are core to the development of targeted therapeutics for cancer therapy,” Burgess said.