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Sankyo Selected Evotec as Assay Development and Screening Partner


WEBWIRE

27 April 2006, Hamburg, Germany | Oxford, UK | Tokyo, Japan - Evotec AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, TecDAX 30) today announced that Sankyo (a wholly owned subsidiary of DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, LIMITED) has chosen Evotec as a partner to identify small molecule therapeutics for their pharmaceutical discovery projects.

Evotec will apply their skills and proprietary technologies in assay development and ultra-high throughput screening (uHTS) to identify biologically active molecules from its corporate library that interact with disease targets selected by Sankyo. Compounds identified in screening will be further characterised and prioritised by Evotec for progression into Sankyo’s subsequent lead optimisation programmes.

Dr Mark Ashton, Executive Vice President Business Development Services at Evotec, said: “We are delighted and proud that Sankyo, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Japan, has selected us for these important drug finding projects. We enjoyed the constructive and open discussions during the planning phase of this collaboration. These projects represent another important milestone in strengthening our collaborative relationships with pharmaceutical companies in Japan.”

“This project is an important extension of our lead discovery activities, and we appreciate Evotec’s technological capabilities as well as the commitment to the project. We already enjoyed the atmosphere of mutual respect and believe that this collaboration will be successful,” commented Dr Hideyuki Haruyama, Corporate Officer and General Manager, Research Institute at Sankyo.

About Evotec AG
Evotec is a leader in the discovery and development of novel small molecule drugs. Both through its own discovery programmes and through contract research partnerships, the Company is providing highest quality research results to its partners in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
In contract research, Evotec has established itself as the partner of choice for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide. The Company provides innovative and often integrated solutions from drug target to clinic through an unmatched range of capabilities, including early stage assay development and screening through to medicinal chemistry and drug manufacturing.
In proprietary projects, Evotec specialises in finding new treatments for diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). Evotec has three Phase I clinical programmes: EVT 201, a GABAA modulator for the treatment of insomnia, EVT 101, a subtype selective NMDA receptor antagonist for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and EVT 301, a selective and reversible inhibitor of MAO-B for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
In 2005, Evotec has generated sales of EUR 80 million with 604 people located in Hamburg, Germany and near Oxford and in Glasgow, UK.
www.evotec.com


About DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, LIMITED
DAIICHI SANKYO COMPANY, LIMITED was established on September 28, 2005 as the joint holding company of two major Japanese pharmaceutical companies – Sankyo Company, Limited and Daiichi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
DAIICHI SANKYO is a global pharmaceutical innovator, continuously generating innovative drugs and services and maximizing its corporate value. Sankyo and Daiichi Pharmaceutical have a broad range of major drug products on the Japanese market, including the antihypertensive Benicar® (olmesartan medoxomil) and the synthetic antibacterial agent Cravit® (levofloxacin). Both companies have used their cumulative knowledge and expertise in the field of cardiovascular disease as a foundation for developing an abundant product line-up and R&D pipeline.
For further details, please refer to the company web site at http://www.daiichisankyo.co.jp/eng .



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