Evotec SE — Regulatory Filings 2015

Sep 2, 2015

News Details

Corporate | 2 September 2015 07:31

Evotec and CHDI Foundation expand ongoing collaboration to fight Huntington’s disease using Evotec’s expanded capabilities and footprint

DGAP-News: Evotec AG / Key word(s): Alliance

2015-09-02 / 07:31

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Hamburg, Germany - 02 September 2015: Evotec AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange:
EVT, TecDAX, ISIN: DE0005664809) today announced that CHDI Foundation, Inc.
("CHDI") has extended and expanded its collaboration with Evotec through to
August 2018. Over this period CHDI will fund 55 full-time scientists at
Evotec. The collaboration-which aims to find new treatments for
Huntington's disease, an inherited neurodegenerative disorder-will take
advantage of additional technologies, capabilities and capacities at
Evotec's facilities in Toulouse, France, and Princeton, NJ, USA.

The collaboration was initiated in 2006 and has grown considerably over
this period to fully utilise Evotec's best-in-class integrated neuroscience
platform. The extension of this collaboration is a further validation of
Evotec's investment in new technologies and capabilities in support of
driving innovative drug discovery collaborations. Evotec provides CHDI with
a full range of research activities and expertise in the neuroscience area,
including integrated biology and chemistry supported by compound and
library management, target validation, stem cell research, high-content
screening, computational chemistry, in vitro pharmacokinetics and protein
production.

Dr Mario Polywka, Chief Operating Officer of Evotec, commented: "We are
delighted to continue our collaboration with CHDI and this extension
clearly illustrates that CHDI values our commitment to expanding both our
capabilities and capacity. We look forward to continuing working closely
with our colleagues at CHDI to rapidly discover novel drugs against
Huntington's disease targets."

"Evotec represents one of our largest and longest standing relationships
and continues to be an important strategic partner in our search for
meaningful therapies for Huntington's disease families", added Dr Robert
Pacifici, Chief Scientific Officer at CHDI. "Their integrated drug
discovery capabilities are helping us discover novel targets and to advance
drug candidates towards the clinic and we look forward to continuing to
work with Evotec over the coming years."

ABOUT HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE
Huntington's disease is a familial disease caused by a mutation in the
huntingtin gene. Each child of a parent with the mutation in the huntingtin
gene has a 50-50 chance of inheriting the mutation. As a result of carrying
the mutation, an individual's brain cells fail and die leading to cognitive
and physical impairments that, over the course of the disease,
significantly impair the individual's quality of life and ultimately cause
death. Symptoms of Huntington's disease, which generally develop in midlife
and become progressively more debilitating as time passes, can also develop
in infancy or old age. Once overt symptoms start, patients live for about
15 to 20 years. There is currently no way to delay the onset of symptoms or
slow the progression of Huntington's disease. It is estimated that the
disorder affects about 30,000 people in the United States and at least
150,000 others have a 50% risk of developing Huntington's disease at some
point.

ABOUT CHDI FOUNDATION, INC.
CHDI Foundation, Inc. is a privately-funded nonprofit biomedical research
organization that is exclusively dedicated to rapidly discovering and
developing therapies that slow the progression of Huntington's disease
(HD). Our scientists work closely with a network of more than 600
researchers in academic and industrial laboratories around the world in the
pursuit of these novel therapies, providing strategic scientific direction
to ensure that our common goals remain in focus. This helps bridge the
translational gap that often exists between academic and industrial
research pursuits and that adds costly delays to therapy development. In
its role as a collaborative enabler, CHDI seeks to bring the right partners
together to identify and address critical scientific issues and move drug
candidates to clinical evaluation as rapidly as possible. Our activities
extend from exploratory biology to the identification and validation of
therapeutic targets, and from drug discovery and development to clinical
studies and trials. More information about CHDI can be found at
www.chdifoundation.org.

ABOUT EVOTEC AG
Evotec is a drug discovery alliance and development partnership company
focused on rapidly progressing innovative product approaches with leading
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. We operate worldwide providing
the highest quality stand-alone and integrated drug discovery solutions,
covering all activities from target-to-clinic. The Company has established
a unique position by assembling top-class scientific experts and
integrating state-of-the-art technologies as well as substantial experience
and expertise in key therapeutic areas including neuroscience, pain,
metabolic diseases as well as oncology, inflammation and infectious
diseases. Evotec has long-term discovery alliances with partners including
Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, CHDI, Genentech, Janssen Pharmaceuticals,
MedImmune/AstraZeneca, Roche and UCB. In addition, the Company has existing
development partnerships and product candidates both in clinical and
pre-clinical development. These include partnerships with Boehringer
Ingelheim and MedImmune in the field of diabetes, with Janssen
Pharmaceuticals in the field of depression and with Roche in the field of
Alzheimer's disease. For additional information please go to
www.evotec.com.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS - Information set forth in this press release
contains forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks and
uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent
the judgement of Evotec as of the date of this press release. Such
forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but are
subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond
our control, and which could cause actual results to differ materially from
those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. We expressly
disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or
revisions to any such statements to reflect any change in our expectations
or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such
statement is based.

Contact Evotec AG:
Gabriele Hansen, VP Corporate Communications & Investor Relations, Phone:
+49.(0)40.56081-255, gabriele.hansen@evotec.com

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Language: English
Company: Evotec AG
Manfred Eigen Campus / Essener Bogen 7
22419 Hamburg
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)40 560 81-0
Fax: +49 (0)40 560 81-222
E-mail: info@evotec.com
Internet: www.evotec.com
ISIN: DE0005664809
WKN: 566480
Indices: TecDAX
Listed: Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated
Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover,
Munich, Stuttgart

End of News DGAP News Service

391891 2015-09-02