Roche and Evotec to jointly develop biomarkers in oncology

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) and Evotec AG (FSE: EVT, TecDAX) today announced a collaboration in novel protein-activity based biomarkers for Roche’s oncology drugs under development. Evotec AG will employ its PhosphoScout® platform to discover protein-phosphorylation’s that predict favorable dosage and efficacy of targeted cancer drugs in patients. Roche will be responsible for conducting clinical trials as well as assessing the development of companion diagnostics for patient stratification.

“We are very pleased to collaborate with Evotec AG and benefit from the PhosphoScout® technology to identify appropriate pharmacodynamics and patient stratification biomarkers,” said Mike Burgess, Global Head of Oncology, Roche Pharma Research and Exploratory Development. “These biomarkers are core to the development of targeted therapeutics for cancer therapy.”

“Biomarker-based personalized healthcare has led to a paradigm shift in cancer therapy,” said Dr. Werner Lanthaler, Chief Executive Officer of Evotec AG. “We are proud to partner Evotec’s novel biomarker concept with Roche, the world leading personalized healthcare company, and its Pharma Research and Development Organization.”

Under the initial three-year term Roche and Evotec will conduct multiple biomarker programs for therapeutic antibodies or small molecule inhibitors.

About the PhosphoScout® platform

Evotec’s PhosphoScout® platform employs high-end mass spectrometry to identify and quantify thousands of cellular phosphorylation events on a global scale. Unlike immunoassays, PhosphoScout® allows truly unbiased systems-wide profiling of signalling pathways. Monitoring changes in the cellular phosphoproteome in response to drug treatment not only supports mechanistic understanding of targeted drugs but also enables the discovery of predictive biomarkers.