Evotec Extends Ongoing Collaboration with CHDI Worth up to US$ 37 Million

Evotec AG has announced that CHDI Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit organization pursuing a biotech approach to finding therapies for Huntington Disease (HD), has extended its collaboration with Evotec to the end of 2010 to help them advance their Huntington's Disease drug discovery programs. This contract extension is worth up to US$ 37 million in research payments for Evotec.

The collaboration covers Evotec's entire drug discovery offering, including its expertise in medicinal chemistry, biology and compound sourcing. Specifically, this includes biochemical and cellular assay development and high content screening on interesting cell lines with the aim of identifying novel starting points for medicinal chemistry programs.

In addition, Evotec supplies key support in the area of medicinal chemistry and supporting biology optimization on multiple biological targets that are of high importance for the treatment of HD.

Using skills in computational chemistry, structural biology and protein crystallography, Evotec characterizes active compounds further and optimizes their potency and selectivity to generate lead molecules for subsequent progression into clinical trials.

Evotec and CHDI have worked together since March 2006. During this time, the collaborative relationship has grown significantly. In addition to the contract extension announced the companies also have an agreement whereby Evotec provides ultra-high-throughput screening (uHTS) support.