The companies will maximize the effectiveness of clinical and commercial nanomedicine development and cooperate on carefully selected development programs.

Leon’s proprietary technology aims to suspend APIs in especially tailored nanoparticles to deliver increased solubility, enhanced bioavailability and improved stability. Evotec explained that better solubility improves efficacy at lower doses, which also reduces any dosage-related side effects. According to Leon, more than 80% of pharmaceutical pipeline APIs are poorly soluble in water.

In addition, Leon’s one-step approach is said to be uniquely applicable to more sensitive molecules such as peptides and proteins because it does not expose the API to thermal or mechanical stress.

“Leon's proprietary technology has the potential to be a game changer for the formulation, development and production of efficient drugs and will drive innovation efficiency by directly improving clinical outcomes,” said Evotec’s CEO Werner Lanthaler. “Our joint efforts in nanomedicine will ultimately benefit a large number of patients across a broad range of indications with significant unmet medical need.”

Evotec has also taken an undisclosed stake in Leon by leading a Series B funding round. Enno Spillner, Evotec’s chief financial officer, will join Leon’s supervisory board. Leon said the capital will be used to further strengthen its leadership position in providing nano solutions for the pharma and biotech industries.

In separate news, Evotec announced it is regaining the global development and commercialization rights to the induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-based program for treating diabetes, performed until now in partnership with Sanofi.

IPSCs are a new type of pluripotent cells that can be obtained by reprogramming animal and human differentiated cells and are regarded as a promising tool in cell therapy for human diseases.

Evotec said it has built a unique platform for iPSC-based drug discovery and cell therapy covering the generation of iPS cell lines, up to the manufacturing of various cell types for drug screening as well as GMP production of clinical material for cell therapies.

The German drug discovery and technology group has produced human beta cells in islet-like clusters and pre-clinical data has demonstrated that they are functionally equivalent to primary human islets in their ability to normalize blood glucose levels in in vivo models over several months.

Beta cells, Evotec explained, reside in clusters of hormone-producing cells, called islets, within the pancreas. They respond to elevated blood glucose levels, for example after eating, by secreting insulin. In type 1 diabetes, beta cells are destroyed by the patient's own immune system.

Going forward, Evotec said it will continue to develop its beta cell program on its own while at the same time exploring the best strategic options for further long-term development and commercialization. It believes an “off-the-shelf” beta cell therapy product has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of insulin-dependent diabetic patients and could therefore represent a major therapeutic opportunity.