The companies began their drug target collaboration in March 2008.

Under the agreements, Evotec will provide high-throughput screening, in vitro pharmacology, protein crystallography, and medicinal chemistry services to discover small molecular weight compounds that will be used against an ion channel target. The aim of the collaboration is to move Ono’s compound towards clinical development.

For its research services, Evotec will receive research funding and milestone payments, the Hamburg-based company said.

“We anticipate the collaboration will result in identifying a novel drug candidate with a high potential,” Ono’s Managing Director, Kazuhito Kawabata, said in a statement.

Specific financial terms of the agreement were not released.