Evotec, Defence Therapeutics, Morphosys - Movement in the biotech sector

Defence Therapeutics - Entry into a new market

The positive news continues for the Canadian biotech company, and its patented platform technology is becoming increasingly popular. With the so-called Accum technology, the innovator is working to develop the next generation of vaccines and ADC products. The Accum platform has been developed and tested in vitro and in vivo in animals to optimize intranuclear drug transport in several US FDA-approved antibody-drug conjugates or new conjugates under development.

The technology allows precise transport of vaccine antigens or ADCs in the intact form to target cells. Based on Accum, Defence Therapeutics has already developed plans around therapeutic vaccines against cancer, a vaccine against infections with the HP virus, which also has potential for acute therapeutic use, and the chemotherapeutic AccuTOX.

In conjunction with cooperation with the French state-owned group Orano, the Company is now entering the radiopharmaceutical market. Here, the Accum technology will serve as a radionuclide-antibody conjugate. Instead of a drug, a radioactive emitter is moved into the vicinity of the cell nucleus of tumor cells. This is intended to cause the emitter to damage the cancer cell's nucleus to the point of cell death. For a recent update, you can read here.

Sebastien Plouffe, CEO of Defence Therapeutics, looks forward to the continued progress of Acccum's expanding pipeline and added: "We have a long experience or relevant expertise related to the development and deployment of our AccumTM platform technology, including in the therapeutic use of antibody-drug conjugates, and we strongly believe that Orano, with its international expertise, using Defence's technology for targeted intracellular drug delivery to improve efficiency in targeting cancer cells, can make a significant contribution to the development of the next generation of radioimmunoconjugates."

Evotec - Successful partnership

In 2018, Evotec and Bristol Myers Squibb entered into a long-term partnership in the field of molecular glues. Bristol Myers Squibb is considered a leader in this field due to its unique compound library of Cereblon E3 Ligase Modulators. This strategic alliance aims to discover and develop a leading pipeline of Molecular Glue Degraders for various therapeutic indications. This will leverage all of Evotec's proprietary PanOmics and PanHunter platforms as well as AI/ML-based drug discovery and development capabilities. In May of last year, the collaboration was extended for an additional 8 years as the partnership is proving extremely productive in generating a promising pipeline of Molecular Glue Degraders.

Evotec has significantly increased its efforts to develop promising compounds since the extension. The partnership continues to pursue discovering and developing a leading pipeline of novel Molecular Glue Degraders targeting high-value targets in oncology and beyond. Performance- and program-based successes now triggered USD 75 million in payments.

Canadian bank RBC left its rating on Evotec at "outperform" with a price target of EUR 28. The drug discovery company's latest news on milestone payments represents a good start for the current year, and there is now upside potential for earnings estimates.

Morphosys - Down to earth

Shareholders of the biotech company from Planegg were only briefly in a celebratory mood when the share started a countermovement after the better-than-expected figures. Then the US investment bank JPMorgan came on the scene and found several points of criticism. For example, analyst James Gordon further lowered his Monjuvi forecasts for 2022. On the critical cancer drug candidate pelabresib, no groundbreaking news is expected until early 2024. The "underweight" rating was reiterated, as was the price target of EUR 11.

Following the skeptical analyst opinions, the biotech stock lost more than 3% and is now trading again near the previous week's low of EUR 13.98. A break below the low at EUR 13.47 would pave the way to last year's low at EUR 11.80.

Dr Jean-Paul Kress, CEO of Morphosys, takes a less negative view of the current situation. During the financial release, he commented, "In 2023, we will continue to prioritize the Phase III study for pelabresib in myelofibrosis in order to be able to publish topline results in early 2024 and to investigate the potential use of pelabresib in other myeloid diseases. We remain committed to developing and bringing to market novel therapies designed to be safer and more effective for cancer patients, and we look forward to the future."

Despite better-than-expected numbers, Morphosys shares were again punished. Evotec's partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb flushes USD 75 million into the Hamburg-based company's coffers. Defence Therapeutics announced a far-reaching cooperation with the French state-owned group Orano.