FRANKFURT (Dow Jones) – The drug discovery and development company Evotec has secured worldwide rights to develop and market a program for the treatment of diabetes developed with the French pharmaceutical group Sanofi. The Betazell program has already generated preclinical data that show that the cells normalize the blood sugar level over several months and thus correspond in function to human islet cells, as Evotec explained. The Hamburg-based company is therefore placing great hope in the project for a beta cell replacement therapy. Islet cells are located in the pancreas, where they produce the hormone insulin, which regulates the level of sugar in the blood. Evotec initially intends to continue developing the Betazell program on its own and, in parallel, is looking for a strategically advantageous option for long-term development and commercialization.
“Evotec and Sanofi have been developing the beta cell replacement therapy project together in a highly productive partnership since 2015,” said Cord Dohrmann, Evotec’s Chief Scientific Officer. “During this time, we have made great strides towards a clinical start with this potentially revolutionary treatment option.”
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DJG / brb / cbr
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 22, 2020 01:58 ET (05:58 GMT)
