Evotec reports strong milestone income
Leads to a profitable first half of 2010
German drug discovery firm Evotec reported strong sales for the first half of 2010, driven by multiple milestone payments and strong growth in its drug discovery alliances. Revenue grew by 33% to €25m and the operating result was positive at €0.3m, compared with a loss of €29.1m in the first six months of 2009.
The Hamburg-based firm achieved milestone payments of €7m during the second quarter from its multi-target collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim and signed a multi-year alliance with Roche subsidiary Genentech. Collaborations with Epitherapeutics and Spermatech were extended and new screening projects initiated with five partners.
In June, Evotec completed the hit-to-lead phase of its collaboration with Vifor Pharma for the discovery of compounds to treat anaemia and achieved a milestone for reaching this stage. The ion channel project with Ono, begun in 2009, also moved into hit-to-lead studies.
Last month, the company agreed to acquire DeveloGen, a German biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutic approaches for treating metabolic and endocrine disorders. The deal added two complementary alliances with Boehringer Ingelheim and Andromeda (Teva).
Evotec has appointed Colin Bond as its new chief financial officer, replacing Dr Klaus Maleck who has taken responsibility for the company’s corporate development activities, and Cord Dohrmann as chief scientific officer.
Evotec expects total group revenues for the full year to grow by more than 20% to €52–€54m.