Evotec, a German-based drug discovery alliance and development partnership company, has entered into three novel research projects for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), supported by research funds from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

The respective scientific approaches stem from the Deutsches Rheuma-Forschungszentrum (DRFZ), an institute of the Leibniz Association, and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), comprising cytokine regulation, neuroprotection and tolerance induction.

Evotec will utilize its drug discovery platform, its project management capabilities and its market presence to identify drug candidates in these novel approaches to tackle MS and to commercialize those later on. Current MS treatments mostly constitute disease-modifying approaches while more specific or well-differentiated alternative treatment modes are eagerly looked for by the industry. The three projects have a term of between one and a half and three years and comprise a total budget of about $6.3 million.