HAMBURG, Germany, OXFORD, England and GLASGOW, Scotland, September 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Evotec AG today announced that ProPharma Limited, its formulation subsidiary based in Glasgow, Scotland, will do business under the Evotec brand from the 1st of September 2005. ProPharma will be integrated into the Evotec Services Division over the coming months.
Evotec has been the majority shareholder in ProPharma since it was formed as a spin-out enterprise from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2000. Evotec invested start-up capital and have continued to provide investment since then to support the successful expansion of the business. The strategic integration of ProPharma comes as a result of the growing synergy between the pharmaceutical development services offered by both Evotec and ProPharma. This will combine Evotec’s expertise in cGMP manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients with ProPharma’s expertise in pharmaceutical formulation development and the small-scale sterile manufacture of pharmaceuticals for use in clinical trials. Evotec will therefore offer a more comprehensive range of services to its pharmaceutical and biotechnology company clients in order to drive their candidate pharmaceuticals along the drug development pathway.
Dr Mark Ashton, Executive Vice President Business Development Services at Evotec, commented: “We are delighted that we have now integrated the ProPharma capabilities into the Evotec brand. We continue to see an upturn in the market for pharmaceutical development and strongly believe that we can significantly help our clients bring new medicines to the marketplace quicker and more efficiently using our formulation and chemical development capabilities.”
Colin MacKay, Head of Business Development at ProPharma, commented: “This change represents an exciting new chapter in the rapid and commercially successful growth of ProPharma, now as a fully integrated part of our parent company Evotec. We look forward to building on our collective strengths within Evotec in order to deliver on our promises to customers and shareholders. We remain committed to building long-term relationships with our customers and to providing world class services that can assist our customers to move their developing drug products forward quickly and thereby add value to those pharmaceutical assets.”
About Evotec AG
Evotec is a leader in the discovery and development of the next generation of novel small molecule drugs both through its own discovery programmes and through contract research partnerships. In its own discovery programmes, the Company specialises in finding new treatments for diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), which were expanded in March 2005 through the acquisition of ENS Holdings, Inc. The Company now has a number of products in late stage pre-clinical development, the most advanced of which, a subtype selective NMDA receptor antagonist for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, is expected to enter clinical trials later this year.
In contract research, Evotec has established itself as the partner of choice for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide. The Company provides innovative solutions from drug target to clinic through an unmatched range of integrated capabilities, including early stage assay development and screening through to medicinal chemistry and drug manufacturing.
With over 600 people located in Hamburg, Germany and near Oxford, UK, Evotec is committed to generating value for its partners, shareholders and employees through a sustainable strategy that balances short and long-term business opportunities.
About ProPharma Limited
ProPharma is a niche provider of contract pharmaceutical development services and specialises in the development of novel formulations of pharmaceuticals and the sterile manufacture of pharmaceuticals for use in clinical trials. The Company focuses on the contract development of pharmaceuticals for parenteral use, i.e. to be administered by injection. As a spin-off from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, in 2000, it has grown rapidly and now employs 37 staff. Its client base comprises pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies around the world. ProPharma has particular expertise in the development of lyophilised (freeze-dried) formulations and the subsequent sterile manufacture of those formulated drugs. In addition it has dedicated facilities to assist in the development of cytotoxic (cytotstatic) pharmaceuticals.
http://www.propharma.co.uk Contact: Evotec AG Anne Hennecke Director, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications Phone: +49-40-56081-286 Fax: +49-40-56081-333 E-Mail: anne.hennecke@evotec.com
Evotec AG
CONTACT: Evotec AG Anne Hennecke, Director, Investor Relations & CorporateCommunications, Phone: +49-40-56081-286, Fax: +49-40-56081-333, E-Mail:anne.hennecke@evotec.com
