Pharmacology and Toxicology

Targets arising from either disease relevant animal models, in vitro genetic experiments or the public domain need careful validation and confirmation, ideally prior to initiating a small molecule discovery program. Evotec has developed a number of in and ex vivo models across numerous therapeutic indications to help answer these questions. To maximize the efficiency and robustness of in vivo target modulation, Evotec has implemented an automated histology platform, which aims to identify, localize and validate targets within disease relevant tissues. Together with our in-house expertise in developing unbiased automated image analysis scripts for quantification, the high content histology platform is applied to quantify targets or other relevant factors and proteins within the tissue of choice. In addition, a stereotactic delivery of AAV-shRNA is routinely used to modulate in vivo expression levels and activity of target proteins, to investigate the effects this protein has on cell physiology and disease progression. Furthermore, after successful drug identification, high content histology readouts are used to confirm small molecule effects on disease progression.