NEW YORK – Evotec said on Thursday that it has partnered with Charité University Hospital Berlin to build a molecular database of patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV), a collection of rare autoimmune diseases of unknown cause that are characterized by inflammation of blood vessels.
Financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.
The goal of the strategic partnership is to better understand AAV by creating a longitudinal database. Charité will collect biospecimens from AAV patients, which will be analyzed on Evotec's PanOmics platform, which integrates genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and single-cell analyses. The molecular data, along with anonymized patient data, will feed into Evotec's proprietary translational molecular patient data platform, E.MPD.
Charité will receive access to the data generated through Evotec's analytics software, PanHunter, for research use. Evotec will have the exclusive rights to use the results for developing precision therapeutics.
"With an improved molecular understanding of the complexities of ANCA-associated vasculitis, we can unlock the potential for more precise diagnostics, more effective treatments, and ultimately better outcomes for patients," Evotec CSO Cord Dohrmann said in a statement.
According to Adrian Schreiber, professor in the department of nephrology and intensive care at Charité, the partnership will "pave the way for more precise diagnostics and efficient treatments for ANCA-associated vasculitis, where specific targeted therapies are still desperately needed."
Evotec's collaboration with Charité follows a similar partnership that the Hamburg, Germany-based company struck a year ago with Hannover Medical School to build a database for patients with Sjögren's syndrome and systemic lupus erythematosus.