Target Safety Assessment for Early Drug Discovery

Target Safety Assessment (TSA) is a structured evaluation of the potential safety risks associated with modulating a drug target. It is designed to identify unintended or unavoidable on-target toxicities early in discovery, helping project teams understand potential liabilities before progressing into lead optimisation, GLP toxicology or clinical development. The assessment can be tailored to the target, indication and therapeutic modality and can be updated as new evidence emerges.

Evotec uses a proprietary in-house platform that combines AI/ML with automated data retrieval and scoring. It pulls together biological, genetic and clinical evidence on any target and is continuously updated as new research and trial results emerge. Each assessment is tailored to the project's indication, modality and specific questions. It is best done during target selection, and can be updated later, for example before GLP toxicology or first-in-human studies.

Each assessment covers:

• Target biology: expression across tissues, homology, known and suspected physiological functions, and human and animal genetic phenotypes.
• Literature and competitive landscape: published evidence relevant to adverse effects, plus analysis of competitor drugs and ongoing clinical trials where available.
• Scored liabilities: a ranked summary of potential safety concerns, each rated for probability and likely impact on the program.
• Actionable de-risking plan: recommended follow-up assays for each liability, drawing on Evotec's in silico, in vitro and in vivo capabilities.
• Full written report: a decision-ready document for project leaders, discovery teams, toxicologists and business development groups assessing target or investment risk.