Evotec Enters Nanomedicine Through Strategic Partnership with Leon-Nanodrugs

• NANO- AND MICROPARTICLES HAVE BROAD APPLICABILITY BOTH ACROSS MODALITIES AND ALONG THE DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT VALUE CHAIN
• BY REFORMULATING MOLECULES, LEON-NANODRUGS’ PROPRIETARY TECHNOLOGY ENHANCES EFFICACY AND IMPROVES CLINICAL OUTCOMES

HAMBURG, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / April 16, 2020 / Evotec SE (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, MDAX/TecDAX, ISIN: DE0005664809) today announced a strategic partnership and equity investment with leon-nanodrugs GmbH (“leon”). Based in Munich, Germany, leon is the leading enabler of nanotechnology for the pharmaceutical industry. Under the terms of the agreement, Evotec and leon will cooperate on selected development programmes and maximise the effectiveness of clinical and commercial nanomedicines.

Leon’s proprietary technology is aimed at suspending active pharmaceutical ingredients (“APIs”) in especially tailored nanoparticles to deliver, increased solubility, enhanced bioavailability and improved stability. Solubility is a main criterion for orally available drug substances as it has a direct impact on their onset and overall efficacy. Better solubility improves efficacy at lower dosages and can therefore contribute to drug safety as well, by reducing dosage-related side effects. Additionally, leon’s one-step approach is uniquely applicable to more sensitive molecules such as peptides and even proteins because it exposes the API to neither thermal nor mechanical stress.

Evotec will leverage leon’s proprietary technology through the Company’s API manufacturing and CMC capabilities. Evotec and leon will leverage their combined expertise in nano-medicine development services, providing clients with world-class, end-to-end opportunities.

Furthermore, Evotec has made a strategic investment in leon by leading the company’s successful Series B funding round. Lead investor Evotec and BayBG join the existing investors TVM Life Science Innovation I L.P., CD-Venture GmbH, Albany Private Equity Holdings Pty Ltd., Eckenstein-Geigy-Stiftung, and LOF Leon Partnership, L.P. Enno Spillner, Evotec’s Chief Financial Officer, will join leon’s peer-recognised supervisory board.

Dr Werner Lanthaler, Chief Executive Officer of Evotec, said: “We are excited about this new strategic collaboration with leon-nanodrugs. Leon’s proprietary technology has the potential to be a game changer for the formulation, development and production of efficient drugs and will drive innovation efficiency by directly improving clinical outcomes. Our joint efforts in nanomedicine will ultimately benefit a large number of patients across a broad range of indications with significant unmet medical need.”

Andrea Cusack, CEO of leon, commented: “We are at the forefront of innovation in the international pharmaceutical market, leading the way in nano formulation of API’s. The strategic partnership with Evotec enables us to exploit the value of our technology and deliver a solution to clients from concept to GMP, successfully delivering products to market.”

No financial details of the collaboration were disclosed.

ABOUT LEON-NANODRUGS GMBH
Leon delivers novel, validated and optimized solutions that create value for clients and provide better outcomes for their patients. It expedites API’s to deliver enhanced bioavailability, increased solubility and improved stability, revitalizing forgotten formulations, and breathing new life into generics.
leon’s patented technology platforms offer access to the next generation of SMART nanoparticles(TM) and nano-formulated drugs, adding value at every stage of the chain from partners and payers to caregivers and patients.

ABOUT EVOTEC SE
Evotec is a drug discovery alliance and development partnership company focused on rapidly progressing innovative product approaches with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academics, patient advocacy groups and venture capitalists. We operate worldwide and our more than 3,000 employees provide the highest quality stand-alone and integrated drug discovery and development solutions. We cover all activities from target-to-clinic to meet the industry’s need for innovation and efficiency in drug discovery and development (EVT Execute). The Company has established a unique position by assembling top-class scientific experts and integrating state-of-the-art technologies as well as substantial experience and expertise in key therapeutic areas including neuronal diseases, diabetes and complications of diabetes, pain and inflammation, oncology, infectious diseases, respiratory diseases, fibrosis, rare diseases and women’s health. On this basis, Evotec has built a broad and deep pipeline of approx. 100 co-owned product opportunities at clinical, pre-clinical and discovery stages (EVT Innovate). Evotec has established multiple long-term alliances with partners including Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, CHDI, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Sanofi, Takeda, UCB and others. For additional information please go to www.evotec.com and follow us on Twitter @Evotec.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Information set forth in this press release contains forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgement of Evotec as of the date of this press release. Such forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, and which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statements to reflect any change in our expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

Contact Evotec SE:
Gabriele Hansen, SVP Corporate Communications, Marketing & Investor Relations, Phone: +49.(0)40.56081-255, gabriele.hansen@evotec.com

SOURCE: Evotec AG

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