On March 22, 2018 Evotec OAI AG, Hamburg, Germany (Neuer Markt: EVT), a supplier of integrated high-value added drug discovery services, and Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc., a drug discovery and development company (Nasdaq: RIGL), reported the signing of a medicinal chemistry agreement for the optimisation of small molecules focused on inhibitors of ubiquitin ligases (Press release, Evotec, MAR 22, 2018, View Source;announcements/press-releases/p/evotec-oai-and-rigel-pharmaceuticals-enter-into-medicinal-chemistry-agreement-to-identify-a-new-class-of-anti-cancer-compounds-called-ubiquitin-ligase-inhibitors-4642 [SID1234525393]). Ubiquitin ligases are involved in cell division and the progression of certain cancers. Research on this target class is an important new area in the field of oncology. Rigel is a leader in the field of ubiquitin ligases and their applications in oncologic, inflammatory and viral diseases.

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Under the terms of the agreement, Evotec OAI will use their leading-edge integrated drug discovery platform to select and synthesise lead compounds with optimised properties for Rigel to screen against their target proteins, and to identify novel scaffolds from Evotec OAI’s portfolio of validated chemistries, with the aim of identifying an IND candidate in 12 months. Initially, Evotec OAI’s molecular modelling expertise and computational platform will be used to perform SAR (structure activity relationship) analysis including pharmacophore modelling and in silico docking studies on selected Rigel small molecule drug leads. These proprietary compounds have been identified as most active in Rigel’s anti-cancer programme on ubiquitin ligases. This information will be used to select and synthesise the additional lead compounds.

Additionally, Evotec OAI will use their computational chemistry expertise to analyse Rigel’s corporate library and to identify additional scaffolds to increase the overall diversity of the library whilst retaining the drug and lead-like properties. Through the agreement, Rigel will also gain access to Evotec OAI’s lead discovery library for screening against the ligase and additional Rigel targets.

Rigel will provide funding to Evotec OAI for services conducted during this programme. In addition, Evotec OAI may receive future milestone payments if discovery projects meet defined goals and products are commercialised.

"We look forward to building a partnership with Rigel in their very exciting area of ubiquitin ligase research," said Mario Polywka, Chief Operating Officer of Evotec OAI. "Using our world class drug discovery platform will enable us to assist Rigel in accelerating their drug discovery programme."

"Rigel has built a very strong capability in ubiquitin ligase research and drug development, including the design of numerous biochemical and cellular assays to analyze the biology and proteomics of ligases, a robust and efficient high throughput screening program, a focused chemistry program with promising initial chemical hits and an experienced preclinical oncology development team," said James M. Gower, Rigel’s President and Chief Executive Officer. "This collaboration marks our second this month in the area of ubiquitin ligases, and Evotec’s expertise in computational and medicinal chemistry will contribute greatly to our ability to rapidly identify a clinical candidate in this promising new area of research."

On March 22, 2018 MorphoSys AG (FSE: MOR; Prime Standard Segment, TecDAX; OTC: MPSYY) reported that it filed a Registration Statement on Form F-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed offering of ordinary shares in the form of American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") in the United States (Press release, MorphoSys, MAR 22, 2018, View Source [SID1234556339]). The final number of ADSs to be offered and the price for the offering have not yet been determined.

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MorphoSys’s ordinary shares are listed on the Prime Standard Segment in Frankfurt, Germany. Application has been made to list the ADSs to be offered in the proposed offering on the Nasdaq Global Market in the United States under the ticker symbol "MOR".

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Leerink Partners LLC, are acting as lead book-running managers, and Berenberg Capital Markets, LLC and JMP Securities LLC are acting as co-managers for the proposed ADS offering.

A Registration Statement relating to these securities has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective. The securities may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the Registration Statement becomes effective.

The securities referred to in this release are to be offered only by means of a prospectus. A copy of the preliminary prospectus, when available, can be obtained from Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, telephone: 1-866-471-2526, facsimile: 1-212-902-9316 or by e-mailing [email protected]; J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, New York 11717, telephone: 1-866-803-9204; Leerink Partners LLC, Attention: Syndicate Department, One Federal Street, 37th Floor, Boston, MA 02110, by telephone at 1-800-808-7525, ext. 6132, or by emailing [email protected].

This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

On March 22, 2018 BioCryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("BioCryst") (NASDAQ:BCRX), and Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Idera") (NASDAQ:IDRA), reported they will be presenting at the 17th Annual Needham Healthcare Conference on Tuesday, March 27, 2018 at 12:15 P.M. E.T. The conference is being held at the Westin New York Grand Central Hotel (Press release, Idera Pharmaceuticals, 22 22, 2018, View Source [SID1234524951]).

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On March 22, 2018 Evotec AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, TecDAX 30) reported that DAC (a wholly owned subsidiary of Genextra SPA) has chosen Evotec as a strategic partner to identify small molecule therapeutics in a pharmaceutical discovery project on the HSP90 target, a key protein involved in a variety of oncogenic pathways in several cancer related diseases (Press release, Evotec, MAR 22, 2018, View Source;announcements/press-releases/p/dac-selects-evotec-as-strategic-partner-for-a-drug-discovery-collaboration-on-the-hsp90-cancer-target-4520 [SID1234525395]).

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Under the agreement, DAC will access compound intellectual property that Evotec has generated on this disease target through its internal R&D activities. The aim of the collaboration will be to take compounds identified by Evotec as being active against the target and further optimise them to the point of clinical development.

Using its proprietary fragment screening platform (High Throughput Fragment Screening, HTFS), Evotec identified novel fragments that interact with the HSP90 target from Evotec’s five thousand member fragment library. Active fragments were further characterised by co-crystallisation with the target protein. The X-ray crystal structures of the protein-ligand complexes identified a variety of binding modes some of which will give rise to novel approaches for inhibiting HSP90. Following due diligence DAC has decided to collaborate with Evotec with the aim of improving the potency and selectivity of the identified compounds. In the collaboration, which may run for an initial period of over 2 years, Evotec will use its medicinal chemistry, profiling and ADMET (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion and Toxicity) expertise to generate lead molecules for further progression into clinical trials.

For its contributions to the discovery project Evotec will potentially receive single digit millions R&D service revenues and will also be eligible for additional preclinical and clinical milestone payments.

"We are delighted that DAC and Genextra, one of the most innovative and active biopharmaceutical companies in Italy, appreciated the value of the HSP90 inhibitors that we had identified using our novel approach to fragment screening and have selected us for this project. We are very excited about the potential for analogues of these compounds to be novel treatments for diseases that require inhibition of the HSP90 protein," said Dr Mark Ashton, Executive Vice President Business Development Services at Evotec. "This project represents another major milestone in our strategy to strengthen our collaborative relationships by providing our partners access to selected promising proprietary drug discovery assets discovered using our state-of-the-art platform."

"This project is an important extension of our lead discovery activities. From existing collaborations with Evotec, we remained positively impressed by Evotec’s medicinal chemistry capabilities and this, together with the results that Evotec had already generated against this disease target, convinced us to collaborate on this exciting project," commented Mr Paolo Fundarò, Chief Executive Officer of Genextra.

Contact: Anne Hennecke, Director, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications, Evotec AG, Phone: +49-40-56081-286, [email protected]

On March 22, 2018 Evotec AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, TecDAX) reported that Evotec and Apeiron Biologics have entered into a research collaboration with the objective of developing immunomodulatory lead compounds for the treatment of cancer (Press release, Evotec, MAR 22, 2018, View Source;announcements/press-releases/p/evotec-and-apeiron-biologics-announce-collaboration-on-cancer-immunotherapy-5107 [SID1234525396]). Apeiron Biologics will contribute in vitro and in vivo pharmacology expertise to this collaboration while Evotec will be responsible for medicinal chemistry as well as chemical proteomics. The collaboration is based on the successful outcome of a phenotypic high throughput screen previously commissioned by Apeiron Biologics to Evotec.

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Dr Mario Polywka, Chief Operating Officer of Evotec, commented: ‘We look forward to continue working with Apeiron on this important project. The collaboration highlights the strength of Evotec’s phenotypic screening capabilities to identify novel mechanisms and hits in important therapeutic areas.’

Dr Hans Loibner, Chief Executive Officer of Apeiron Biologics, added: ‘We were excited about the outcome of the primary screen and look forward to refining the hit compounds in this collaboration applying our immunological know-how. There is no doubt that immunomodulatory compounds like these carry huge therapeutic and commercial potential.’

No financial details are disclosed.

ABOUT APEIRON Biologics AG
Apeiron is a mostly privately financed biotech company in Vienna that develops immunological/biological therapies against cancer. Its portfolio consists of five clinical projects (lead in phase III) as well as some preclinical approaches. The most advanced project APN311 is an antibody to treat the pediatric cancer neuroblastoma. The immunocytokine hu14.18-IL2 (APN301) is being developed clinically in neuroblastoma as well as in melanoma. Moreover, recombinant human superoxide dismutase is in clinical development, notably in a topical liposomal formulation (APN201) as a potent anti-inflammatory tissue-protective biologic. Two complementary approaches are pursued (APN401, APN411) that stimulate immune cells in a novel way to treat cancer more effectively. The recombinant human Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (GSK2586881, previously APN01) was licensed out to GlaxoSmithKline in early 2010 and is currently investigated in a phase II trial in patients suffering from acute lung injury. Apeiron started operations in 2006 and has 23 employees as of today.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS – Information set forth in this press release contains forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgement of Evotec as of the date of this report. Such forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, and which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statements to reflect any change in our expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.