Evotec receives loan to expand, and extends partnership to address unmet medical needs

‘By funding transformational projects in key areas of public interest, EIB is an important driver of innovation in the EU.’

The European Investment Bank (EIB), has given Evotec a loan of €150 million, which the company will use to support its R&D activities, equity investments, and the building of a new biologics manufacturing facility on Evotec’s Campus Curie, Toulouse, France.

Evotec said that the funding will allow for proprietary research on a broad range of ‘currently underserved therapeutic areas’, as well as initiating additional innovative R&D activities and creating new partnering opportunities. The loan will also allow the company to expand its portfolio, which currently covers more than 90 active projects across more than 30 companies worldwide, Evotec added.

The new manufacturing facility will be the second of its kind and the first in Europe, and is supported by the French and regional governments with financing of up to €50 million. The new facility ‘will bring advanced biomanufacturing to the EU and will deliver much needed clinical and commercial manufacturing capacity for biologics,’ the company said.

This latest loan follows on from a €75 million loan from the EIB in 2017. Enno Spillner, Evotec Chief Financial Officer said: ‘By funding transformational projects in key areas of public interest, EIB is an important driver of innovation in the EU.’

In a separate development, Evotec has extended and expanded its multi-target drug discovery agreement with Related Sciences (RS), a data-driven biotech creation company. The partnership between Evotec and RS was launched during 2021 and allows the partners to select, discover, and develop new, precisely targeted medicines for unmet patient needs. The expanded and extended collaboration includes Evotec’s capabilities in covalent inhibitor discovery which will bolster the growing portfolio of more than 15 discovery-stage assets.

Dr Craig Johnstone, Chief Operating Officer of Evotec commented: ‘Through best-in-class, fully integrated interdisciplinary science, AI/ML-enabled target selection and drug design, and joint project leadership and portfolio management, Evotec and Related Sciences are well positioned to generate novel high quality treatment for patients with significant unmet medical needs.’