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news.German pharmaceutical firms Evotec and Eternygen have entered into a drug discovery collaboration to develop new small molecule inhibitors.
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The new inhibitors will be developed against an Eternygen target to treat metabolic diseases using Evotec’s technology platform and broad expertise in drug discovery and pre-clinical development.
Currently, Eternygen is working on the sodium coupled citrate transporter NaCT, a new target which is a major regulator of energy metabolism involved in the pathogenesis of fatty liver, diabetes and obesity.
NaCT, also called as PMCT or SLC13A5, is predominantly expressed in liver cells and the mammalian homolog of the INDY (I am not dead yet) gene in Drosophila.
As part of the deal, Evotec will use its drug discovery platform to discover and develop a suitable clinical candidate.
Eternygen CEO Marco Janezic said, "Evotec as a world-leading provider for drug discovery and development services and its deep expertise in the area of metabolic diseases is the optimal partner for Eternygen as a project focused company to drive the development process as fast as possible until proof of concept."
Evotec chief operating officer Mario Polywka said, "We are pleased to enter this collaboration with Eternygen and we are confident that the combination of Eternygen’s and our expertise in metabolic drug discovery and development will lead to success."