DGAP-News: Evotec AG / Key word(s): Alliance
2016-07-11 / 07:29
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Hamburg, Germany, 11 July 2016:
Evotec AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, TecDAX, ISIN: DE0005664809)
announced today a collaboration with Antibiotic Research UK ("ANTRUK") to
identify alternative means of treating infections that are resistant to
currently available antibiotics. The research will focus on the discovery
of Antibiotic Resistance Breakers, or "ARBs", to be used in conjunction
with known antibiotics with the aim of reversing resistance and restoring
clinical utility of such antibiotics. ANTRUK, the world's first charity
tackling antimicrobial resistance, was established by a network of leading
UK scientists and clinicians with the mission to educate the public about
microbial resistance, promote the discovery and development of new
antibiotic therapies, and support those currently living with
antibiotic-resistant infections.
Evotec has established a world-class drug discovery platform that, through
integration of facilities in the UK, Germany and France, enables
state-of-the-art research to be conducted in collaboration with a large
range of organisations including virtual foundations and charities such as
Antibiotic Research UK. The collaboration will engage Evotec's
anti-infectives site in Manchester, as well as its bio-safety level 2
high-throughput screening facility at Evotec's Toulouse site.
For over 50 years, the discovery of a new class of antibiotics has evaded
the industry and the threat of antimicrobial resistance has ever increased.
Recently, the former Goldman Sachs Chief and now UK Commercial Secretary to
the Treasury, Lord Jim O'Neill, released his final report, which was part
of a two-year Antimicrobial Resistance Review. This report highlighted the
enormous need for new business models to fund and incentivise the discovery
of new therapies to treat drug-resistant infections.
Dr Werner Lanthaler, Chief Executive Officer of Evotec, commented: "The
combination of Evotec's science and infrastructures, alongside charities
and foundations like ANTRUK, allows highly capital-efficient drug discovery
processes. This is especially important for addressing the dramatic threat
of multi-drug resistant bacterial infections where time is of essence to
come up with new treatments."
Professor Colin Garner, Chief Executive at Antibiotic Research UK, added:
"It is great to see our first research programme commencing so soon after
the charity's formation in mid-2014, and we are grateful to our supporters
who have funded this programme. Evotec's facilities and expertise make it
an ideal partner for this first project and it is exciting to see some
action finally being taken as no new classes of antibiotics, against
Gram-negative bacteria, have been introduced for the past 30 years. It is
vital that new treatments are found if we are to avoid a catastrophe in the
future. I am really looking forward to seeing the results of the research,
as this programme could potentially find new ways of extending the life of
our existing antibiotics at a fraction of the cost and time compared to
conventional drug development programmes."
No financial details about the collaboration were disclosed.
ABOUT ANTIBIOTIC RESEARCH UK
Professor Colin Garner, an academic formerly based at the University of
York, founded ANTRUK in June 2014, following discussions held with some of
the UK's leading academic scientists and clinicians who had formed an
informal network known as Antibiotic Discovery UK. There was general
agreement amongst this community that the country that discovered
penicillin and some of the other leading antibiotics in common use today
had let this area of drug development slip backwards to such an extent that
there was very little research now being conducted in the area. The charity
was registered in July 2014.
In a recent scientific paper by Professor Laura Piddock and her colleague
Eilis Bragginton from the University of Birmingham, they estimated that
just £95 million was spent on antibiotic research (0.7% of all UK medical
research funding). This compares with £500 million spent annually on cancer
research and a total annual expenditure on medical research of £1.4
billion. Without effective antibiotics the position of medicine would go
'back to the dark ages' as David Cameron recently stated.
It is against this backdrop that ANTRUK has been created with the aim of
kick-starting antibiotic drug development in the UK's universities and
small and medium-sized companies. The charity's mission is to provide a
step change in developing new antibiotics with a view to developing one new
antibiotic therapy in the next 5-7 years. Typically, it takes 10-15 years
to develop a new drug but ANTRUK will use some novel methods which will
short-circuit this process including taking drugs into patients much
earlier than currently practiced (accelerating the process of drug
development from lab bench to bedside). In order to achieve this
medium-term objective, ANTRUK aims to raise up to £30 million in the next
5-7 years using social media campaigns, crowd funding, applications to
foundations and trusts and corporate sponsorship.
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, academics, patient advocacy
groups and venture capitalists. We operate worldwide providing the highest
quality stand-alone and integrated drug discovery solutions, covering all
activities from target-to-clinic to meet the industry's need for innovation
and efficiency in drug discovery (EVT Execute). 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, diabetes and
complications of diabetes, pain and inflammation, oncology and infectious
diseases. On this basis, Evotec has built a broad and deep pipeline of more
than 70 partnered product opportunities at clinical, pre-clinical and
discovery stages (EVT Innovate). Evotec has established multiple long-term
discovery alliances with partners including Bayer, CHDI, Sanofi or UCB and
development partnerships with e.g. Janssen Pharmaceuticals in the field of
Alzheimer's disease, with Sanofi in the field of diabetes and with Pfizer
in the field of tissue fibrosis. 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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2016-07-11 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a
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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; Terminbörse EUREX
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