HAMBURG, Germany ¿ Evotec Biosystems AG entered a drug discovery alliance with Sugen Inc., a wholly owned Pharmacia & Upjohn.

¿The collaboration focuses on the screening of Sugen¿s proprietary compound libraries against five targets provided by Sugen,¿ Anne Hennecke, spokeswomen of Evotec, told BioWorld International. ¿In a feasibility study we have already proven that our screening method is able to generate the necessary data with more speed and reliability than conventional assays.¿ She said that upon success, the collaboration might be extended to additional targets.

Sugen develops drugs against targets in the signal transduction pathways and has already identified over 120 potential disease targets, including regulators of basic cell functions as tyrosine kinase and tyrosine phosphatase. These enzymes play a role in cancer and diseases of the central nervous system. However, they are weak binders to targets, so conventional assays are difficult to design. Sugen derives small molecules targeting the kinase family from synthetic compound libraries and from collections of natural product extracts.

Evotec, of Hamburg, will receive an up-front payment for assay development and screening services and a milestone payment upon completion of the first target screen. At the end of the collaboration, Sugen will pay an additional fee. In addition, Evotec will receive royalties on any product developed from the collaboration. Financial details were not disclosed, however, Hennecke said, combined with the BASF Pharma/Knoll AG contract entered in December, Evotec had generated orders for DM10 million (US$4.9 million) in revenues in only three months.

¿For the first time, we have been entitled to royalty payments,¿ Hennecke said. ¿This validates our business strategy in providing drug discovery services.¿