Evotec AG and MaRS Innovation announced the launch of Fibrocor Therapeutics LP (Fibrocor), a Toronto-based company focused on developing first-in-class therapeutics targeting fibrotic diseases. The company was launched with CAD 2.8 million financing, which includes cash from MaRS Innovation. Evotec will provide all drug discovery activities and will also receive an equity stake. Fibrocor takes a new approach to understanding and treating fibrosis, bringing together clinical expertise and access to disease tissue with high-throughput molecular analysis infrastructure and expertise in clinically-predictive animal models of fibrosis. The company's core focus will be to develop novel therapeutics that have the potential to prevent, slow and ultimately reverse the course of fibrosis. Fibrocor has already identified a lead programme and will partner with Evotec to develop novel molecules with the anticipation of nominating a lead candidate in 2018. In addition, Fibrocor will collaborate with its academic co-founders to expand access to tissue samples to include several relevant tissues, such as lung, liver, kidney, colon and skin. Fibrocor will seek to identify novel targets and molecular pathways that are identified from and validated in clinical samples from individuals with the targeted disease for follow-on drug discovery and development programmes in fibrosis, generating a robust pipeline of novel therapeutic targets that it will subsequently work with Evotec on.