Centogene and Evotec Expand Collaboration into Gaucher Disease

Rare Daily Staff

Centogene and Evotec said they have expanded their existing drug discovery partnership related to Gaucher disease, an inherited lysosomal storage disorder caused by mutations in the glucocerebrosidase gene, and intend to develop a treatment for Gaucher patients.

“The partnership with Centogene supports and complements our patient-centric drug discovery approach in Gaucher disease,” said Cord Dohrmann, chief scientific officer of Evotec.

Centogene transforms real-world clinical and genetic data into actionable information for rare disease patients, physicians, and drug developers. Evotec partners with companies to accelerate drug discovery and development.

“We are able to draw on over 20 years of knowledge and research of Gaucher disease,” said Arndt Rolfs, CEO of Centogene. “By continuing our work alongside Evotec, we will accelerate transformational medical solutions in the rare disease field.”

Under the terms of the expanded agreement, Centogene and Evotec will work together to research, discover, and develop medical solutions for rare diseases related to the protein target glucocerebrosidase (GBA), a well-known gene linked to Gaucher disease. The collaboration brings together Evotec’s leading induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) platform and broad drug discovery and development capabilities with Centogene’s global proprietary rare disease platform, including insights as well as iPSC lines. The collaboration builds on the partnership the two companies entered in 2018 with the goal to discover and develop novel small molecules in rare hereditary metabolic diseases.

“The potential to further the understanding of rare diseases connected to mutations in the GBA gene is extremely important to patients and their families around the world, and we hope that today’s collaboration agreement will help lead to transformational personalized treatments for these patients,” said Philip Lambert, chief scientific officer at Centogene.

Photo: Arndt Rolfs, CEO of Centogene