Evotec acquires Zebrafish screening operations from Summit

Evotec has acquired the Zebrafish screening business of Summit Corporation, including operations in Abingdon, UK, and Singapore for £0.5m.

Zebrafish provides whole organism data about the safety and toxicity of drug-like molecules at an early stage of lead optimisation. It allows prioritisation of the most promising compounds early in the drug discovery process, reducing the risk of potential later-stage failure and lowering costs in drug discovery and development. Evotec says Zebrafish technology is a strong addition to its drug discovery business.

Founded in 2003, Summit has built the world's leading Zebrafish capability. It has collaborated with more than 25 pharmaceutical companies worldwide. Alliances include a three-year research agreement with Johnson & Johnson as well as collaborations with Bayer-Schering, Merck KGaA, Merz, Roche and Servier.

Evotec expects Zebrafish to start contributing revenue over the next six months and to grow rapidly over the next two years.

Dr Mario Polywka, chief operating officer of Evotec, said: "We get access to a portfolio of validated safety pharmacology and toxicology assays and disease models for target validation that enjoy growing interest in our industry."

Evotec will move Summit's UK operations into its facilities in Abingdon and use the Singapore facility as a base to target new growth markets in the Far East.

Summit is a UK-based drug discovery company focused on developing new therapeutics from its iminosugar drug discovery platform.