Evotec to close US operation and focus r&d in Europe
Evotec, a German leader in the discovery and development of small molecule drugs, is reorganising its drug discovery and development operations and plans to concentrate all proprietary core research programmes in Europe.
Evotec, a German leader in the discovery and development of small molecule drugs, is reorganising its drug discovery and development operations and plans to concentrate all proprietary core research programmes in Europe.
As a result, approximately 45 people will leave the company, bringing the total workforce to less than 330, and the US operations of the company's subsidiary Renovis in South San Francisco, California, will be wound down with immediate effect. The reorganisation will lead to annual cost savings of Euro 10m from 2010.
Dr Werner Lanthaler, chief executive of Evotec, said: "We have identified strong synergistic potential in the concentration of our operations into one seamless process and operation. Through this re-engineering we will be able to most efficiently advance our proprietary core projects and deliver world-class drug discovery and development support to our partners."
Evotec started to implement the Evotec 2012 Action Plan to Focus and Grow in March. The core elements of this plan include actions to strengthen the Discovery Alliance Business, refocus the pipeline on the most valuable assets, build strategic alliances on more available projects and significantly reduce operating expenses and strategic risks.
Evotec has long-term discovery alliances with partners including Boehringer Ingelheim, CHDI, Novartis, Ono Pharmaceutical and Roche. The company has a P2X7 antagonist for the treatment of inflammatory diseases in clinical development and a series of preclinical compounds and development partnerships, including a strategic alliance with Roche for EVT 101, a subtype selective NMDA receptor antagonist, for use in treatment-resistant depression.