CEBINA announces the launch of Danube Labs, a partnership with Evotec to develop cutting edge biotechnology projects sourced from Central and Eastern European Universities and Research Institutions

VIENNA, June 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CEBINA GmbH, Central European Biotech Incubator and Accelerator, today announces the launch of Danube Labs, a partnership with Evotec SE (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT MDAX/TecDAX) (ISIN: DE0005664809) to fast-track early-stage academic research to drug discovery and development. The joint project, financed by a dedicated group of private investors, will identify, and develop academic projects into mature therapeutic product development opportunities, primed for biotech company formation or partnering.

Despite high quality life science and biomedical research in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), there is relatively low commercialization activity in this region and lack of significant investments in the biotechnology sector. As part of its mission to develop innovative biotech projects and accelerate them towards market, CEBINA will expand its current activities to scout projects from leading universities and research institutions in Central and Eastern Europe through Danube Labs. Using its network with CEE universities and research institutions, CEBINA will identify promising academic research projects, early-stage drug discovery and development projects and select those with cutting edge science and commercial potential for entry into Danube Labs, and to provide funding and support to develop the projects.

Evotec will apply its industry-leading drug discovery and pre-clinical development platform to mature selected projects as a way to accelerate the projects and to prime them as future investment opportunities. Evotec has previously partnered with globally leading universities as part of its BRIDGE (Biomedical Research, Innovation & Development Generation Efficiency) program.

Danube Labs aims to create up to 8 new biotech companies over 4 years, and is supported through CEBINA Bridge Capital Limited, a private fund established in Gibraltar and committed to providing a minimum investment of  €10M.

"We are excited to join forces with Evotec to expand our mission to transform promising research and early-stage drug discovery projects from Central and Eastern Europe into mature projects attractive for forming new companies that will be embedded in the biotech ecosystem CEBINA has created. This partnership brings together great entrepreneurial expertise and experience in drug development that, we believe, will enable us to generate breakthrough therapeutics." commented Eszter Nagy, MD PhD, founder and CEO&CSO of CEBINA.

"Danube Labs represents the latest of Evotec's BRIDGE partnerships, where we explore exciting academic science with the aim to accelerate the translation of early-stage drug discovery from academia to patients" commented Mark Slack, PhD, VP Academic Partnerships at Evotec. "Through our partnership with CEBINA, we see the opportunity to seek out and validate promising innovative research in Central and Eastern Europe".

"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to invest in Danube Labs. We believe that the expertise brought by both CEBINA and Evotec is an exceptional opportunity to create value for our investors and further investment opportunities in the new companies" said Patrick Aisher, Director of CEBINA Bridge Capital Limited and strategic investment advisor of CEBINA.

ABOUT CEBINA

CEBINA GmbH – Central European Biotech Incubator and Accelerator (www.cebina.eu) is an Austria-based company committed to advancing entrepreneurship through creating and nuturing eary-stage life science projects and companies to develop new medicines and cutting-edge technologies. CEBINA actively identifies academic projects with product development potential to create new companies. CEBINA is also pursuing its own research & development projects, in particular in the infectious diseases area and has initiated multiple R&D projects to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.  CEBINA also offers office and laboratory facilities, in-house research, development, financing and management capabilities to early and medium stage biotech companies.

ABOUT EVOTEC SE

Evotec is a life science company with a unique business model that delivers on its mission to discover and develop highly effective therapeutics and make them available to the patients. The Company's multimodality platform comprises a unique combination of innovative technologies, data and science for the discovery, development, and production of first-in-class and best-in-class pharmaceutical products. Evotec leverages this "Data-driven R&D Autobahn to Cures" for proprietary projects and within a network of partners including all Top 20 Pharma and over 800 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, as well as other healthcare stakeholders. Evotec has strategic activities in a broad range of currently underserved therapeutic areas, including e.g. neurology, oncology, as well as metabolic and infectious diseases. Within these areas of expertise, Evotec aims to create the world-leading co-owned pipeline for innovative therapeutics and has to-date established a portfolio of more than 200 proprietary and co-owned R&D projects from early discovery to clinical development. Evotec operates globally with more than 3,700 highly qualified people. The Company's 14 sites offer highly synergistic technologies and services and operate as complementary clusters of excellence. For additional information please go to www.evotec.com and follow us on Twitter @Evotec and LinkedIn.

CONTACT

Sophie Zettl, PhD
Vice President Business Development
+43-676-373-1595
sophie.zettl@cebina.eu
www.danubelabs.eu 

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