Evotec is a global drug discovery company with a focus on matching scientific diligence with industrial robustness to accelerate preclinical development of novel therapeutics that have the potential to become first- or best-in-class drugs.
To improve quality and speed of innovation, Evotec developed a novel risk-share paradigm of close collaboration with academic centers of excellence –termed the Academic BRIDGE- where preclinical validation of therapeutic concepts in an integrated business framework aims to significantly shorten the time between drug development idea and commercially attractive preclinical data.
With LAB282, in November 2016 the first Academic BRIDGE took shape in Oxford. LAB282 (www.lab282.org) is a £13m partnership between the University of Oxford, OUI, OSI and Evotec that offers Oxford researchers across different therapeutic areas and departments the opportunity to access translational funding to advance therapeutic concepts and create a basis for future commercialization.
Since inception, twelve different projects have been awarded funding between £25k and £500k. The presentation will provide insights into the LAB282 concept, discuss learnings after the first 1.5 years and be a forum to discuss how scientists from the Kennedy Institute could benefit from LAB282 in the future.
——
Since December 2016, Thomas is overseeing a growing portfolio of strategic academic partnerships at Evotec, including Lab282 in Oxford. From November 2013 to November 2016, Thomas was responsible for scientific advancement and commercial licensing of Evotec’s preclinical R&D projects in the areas of inflammation and immuno-oncology, with a particular focus on building high-value, performance based drug discovery alliances with academia and pharma.
From 2007 to 2013, Thomas was Sourcing Director at the Biopharmaceuticals Research Unit of Novo Nordisk, where he identified and evaluated partnering opportunities related to compounds, targets and technologies within haemophilia, autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, growth disorders and protein technologies. At Novo Nordisk, Thomas initiated a multitude of agreements with academic institutions and biotech companies both in Europe and the US.
Prior to joining Novo Nordisk, Thomas was co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at the German biotech company TeGenero, where he headed the R&D efforts to develop first-in-class immunomodulatory monoclonal antibodies (2002-2007).
Preceding his entrepreneurial activities, Thomas was group leader and Assistant Professor for Immunobiology at the University of Würzburg (1999-2002) following a PostDoc at the University of California in Berkeley where he researched basic cellular immunology (1996-1999). Thomas received his Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Würzburg in 1995. He is (co-) author of approx. 30 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals.
Today, Thomas has 20+ years of experience in research and drug development in academia, biotech and pharma. Fostering innovation and continuous improvement, Thomas manages cross-functional teams as an assessor / developer, sets directions and builds trust in a company.
