Science Pool

Date: 14-16 September, 2022

Venue: Heidelberg, Germany

Attendees: Florian Tegeler, Erik Schliep, Carla Tameling

Evotec will be sponsoring the European Bioconductor Conference 2022, as well as showcasing its research in Heidelberg.

If you wish to meet with us in Heidelberg, get in touch via the form below, we will be happy to arrange a meeting.

Learn more about EuroBioC 2022.

About the Webinar

This exciting collaboration between Evotec and Professor Dirk Grimm from the University of Heidelberg will review the current challenges facing the field of gene therapy.

The webinar includes:

• A short introduction to AAV gene therapy
• Recent clinical findings
• Lessons we have already learned regarding improving AAV-based gene therapies
• Strategies for next generation canidates
• Efficacy and safety evaluation in preclinical models and their translatability into humans

About the Speakers

	Werner Höllriegl VP, Head of In Vivo Gene Therapy | Evotec Werner Höllriegl is heading In Vivo Gene Therapy at Evotec GT in Orth an der Donau, Austria. He received his degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria. After spending a couple of years as Assistant Professor at the Department of Anesthesiology, he moved into industrial research spending more than 15 years in different Pharma Companies (Baxter, AstraZeneca, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Baxalta, Shire, Takeda) in Research and Nonclinical Development, focussing on biologics and in vivo gene therapy.
	Hanspeter Rottensteiner VP, Head of In Vitro Gene Therapy | Evotec Hanspeter Rottensteiner is heading In Vitro Gene Therapy at Evotec GT in Austria. Biochemist by training, Hanspeter has more than 10 years in academia, and 15 years of experience in Pharma (Baxter, Takeda) in senior positions. He brings significant expertise in drug development of biologics and gene therapies, with a strong focus on rare diseases. He received his degree in Biochemistry from the University of Vienna, Austria.
	Rüdiger Fritsch Principle Scientist, Metabolic Disease | Evotec Rüdiger Fritsch is heading a transcriptomics team at Evotec. He has recieved his PhD from the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. With over 15 years of experience as a biologist, Rüdiger has a strong expertise in omics.
	Dirk Grimm Professor of Viral Vector Technologies Medical Faculty and the Department of Infectious Diseases/Virology | Heidelberg University Dirk Grimm is heading the "Virus-host interactions" research group within the Department of Infectious Diseases/Virology. He has over 25 years of experience in AAV capsid and genome engineering as well as  in human gene therapy. Dirk has trained under AAV experts Jürgen Kleinschmidt (German Cancer Research Center Heidelberg) and Mark Kay (Stanford University School of Medicine).

Watch the webinar to learn more!

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Date: 9-13 June 2022

Location: Marriott Marquis Washington D.C., US

Attending: Nelly Dubarry, Eric Bacque, Cedric Couturier

ASM Microbe is back, and scheduled to take place in-person, June 9-13 in Washington, D.C. Mark your calendar now to join us!
ASM is the oldest and largest single life science membership organization in the world and hosts the most famous congress in Bacteriology in US, ASM Microbe which aims to drive discovery, innovation and collaboration across the full spectrum of microbiology.

Connect with our scientific specialists and don’t forget to include our poster presentation in your ASM itinerary!

Our scientific program

Oral Presentation - Presented by Cedric Couturier, Project Leader

Abstract #3382: Corramycin: A Novel Class Antibacterial from Myxobacteria That Hijacks The Inner Membrane Transporters of Escherichia Coli 

Saturday, 11 June, 2022 | 3:00 pm – 3:15 pm

Collaborative poster presentations

Abstract #3417 - Corramycin: Enlarging the Antibacterial Spectrum and Optimizing the Developability Profile of Corramycin, a Novel Class Natural Product Antibacteria

Abstract #3472 - Corramycin : Biosynthetic Clusters of a Promising Antibacterial Scaffold from Myxobacteria Including the Biosynthetic Pathway for a Previously Undescribed Hydroxyl-n-Methyl-Histidine

Abstract #5431 - Coramycin2 : A New Class Potent Antibacterial Candidate With A Novel Mode Of Penetration Into Bacteria, A novel Mechanism Of Action And Compelling Activities In Animal Models Of Infection 

Abstract #3382 - Corramycin2 : A New Class Potent Antibacterial Candidate With A Novel Mode Of Penetration Into Bacteria, A Novel Mechanism Of Action & Compelling Activities In Animal Models Of Infection

If you wish to meet with us in Washington or virtually outside of the event, get in touch via the form below, we will be happy to arrange a personalised meeting.

Learn more about ASM Microbe.

Chemoprophylaxis is a well-known strategy to prevent infectious diseases in populations at risk, e.g., in malaria, tuberculosis, or Neisseria meningitidis. Therefore, it is also being discussed for other diseases, such as Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection. This disease is spread by Aedes mosquitoes and leads to acute febrile illness, as well as to inflammation and disabling pain in the joints. While the acute fever often resolves within days, musculoskeletal, arthritis-like symptoms can persist for months and years, leading to a substantial burden of disease in tropical and subtropical areas.

There is a need not only for therapeutic, but also prophylactic treatments against Chikungunya disease – like those available for malaria. However, the design of clinical trials is complex as Chikungunya outbreaks are challenging for studying interventions: They are unpredictable in time and place, spreading rapidly, but with usually short life-spans and differential diagnosis is complex, so that there is a high risk that the outbreak is over before a trial can be conducted.

However, there is a potential solution, following evidence on the risk of secondary household infections in chikungunya outbreaks. Household transmission is well-known from respiratory viruses transmitted via aerosols. At first glance the transmission via a mosquito seems not comparable to the transmission mode of airborne viruses, but it is known that the main vector, Aedes mosquitos, has a very limited flying range, resulting in spatial microclustering of CHIKV outbreaks: household members and near neighbors have the highest risk of secondary infections. Therefore, enrolling such a high-risk population could allow for a more feasible, smaller, shorter and conclusive trial.

Evotec teamed up with scientists from Aarhus University (Denmark), the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge (Phnom Penh, Cambodia), the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, (Salvador, Bahia, Brazil), and the Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas-Fiocruz (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) to develop an innovative chemoprophylaxis trial design for CHIKV.

As a first step, such a trial requires a surveillance study design to determine household secondary attack rate. For this study, index cases need to be identified by RT-PCR to confirm a CHIKV infection, followed by serosurveillance of household members. There is a caveat as household secondary attack rates may not be accurately predicted from one chikungunya outbreak to another. Therefore, estimates of household secondary attack rates from different countries and cultural environments are needed.

The objective of such a study will be first to establish a range of estimates around which the feasibility of prophylaxis trials can be evaluated and a sample size calculated. Subsequently, evidence-based prophylaxis trials can be conducted based on the estimated rate of secondary household infections.

LEARN MORE