• EXTEND AIMS TO DEVELOP DRUG DISCOVERY PARTNERSHIPS WITH LEADING ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS FROM ITALY TO ACCELERATE THEIR PROMISING THERAPEUTICS FOR COMMERCIALISATION

HAMBURG, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / October 28, 2022 / Evotec SE (Frankfurt Stock Exchange:EVT)(MDAX/TecDAX)(ISIN:DE0005664809)(NASDAQ:EVO today announced the launch of "Extend", a translational BRIDGE partnership in cooperation with CDP Venture Capital Sgr, a strategic pillar to Italy's economic growth and innovation, and Angelini Ventures, the Corporate Venture Capital arm of the multi-business industrial group Angelini Industries.

Extend is a joint venture between Evotec, CDP Venture Capital and Angelini Ventures to develop translational drug discovery partnerships with highly renowned universities and research centres in Italy. Extend aims to use Evotec's best-in-class technology platforms to accelerate the translation of academic innovation into robust and investable data points and Angelini Ventures' network and knowledge of the life science sector to launch successful new companies.

The partnership brings together several academic institutions with strong track records in life science innovation from across Italy: Ospedale San Raffaele in Milan, the Universities of Milan, Florence, Modena and Reggio Emilia, Padua, Sapienza in Rome, the regional research district of Puglia through H-Bio and the Human Technopole. Extend will be located within Milan's MIND district, the new centre of scientific excellence in Italy focused on life sciences.

Evotec's BRIDGE (Biomedical Research, Innovation & Development Generation Efficiency) collaborations provide an integrated fund and award framework to validate exciting academic projects in collaborations with Pharma, biotech, and Venture Capital partners with the goal to form new companies.

Dr Werner Lanthaler, Chief Executive Officer of Evotec, commented: "We are excited to launch Extend together with our partners at CDP Venture Capital and Angelini Ventures. The Academic sector in Italy has historically been a driving force behind innovation at a global scale. Extend provides researchers from the member institutions with a unique way to fast-track their projects, validate them on our industrial-grade platform and create partnering options that include the formation of new companies."

Enrico Resmini, CEO and General Manager of CDP Venture Capital, said: "The launch of the Extend National Technology Transfer Hub adds a key step to the path we are building to bridge the Italian tech transfer gap and open University laboratories to international markets. The pharmaceutical and drug discovery sectors represent one of the most striking examples of how research and deep tech technologies can shape people's lives in a short time, as we have all experienced first-hand during the health emergency."

Prof. Sergio Marullo di Condojanni, CEO of Angelini Industries, added: "We are delighted to participate in the creation of Polo Extend together with high-level partners in the biotech and innovation sectors. Being involved in this project represents an important opportunity for Angelini Industries to contribute to the development of the Italian innovation ecosystem, of which Extend represents a virtuous example. The participation of Angelini Ventures, under the leadership of CEO and Managing Director Paolo Di Giorgio, underlines our desire to strengthen the bridge between the excellence of Italian academic research and the development of drug discovery programs in order to identify new treatment options"

About Extend

Extend is a translational BRIDGE joint venture founded by Evotec, CDP Venture Capital, and Angelini Ventures in 2022. Extend brings together leading academic institutions from Italy to accelerate their most promising assets towards commercialisation. To learn more about Extend, please visit www.extend-tthub.com.

Additional Quotes

"This partnership bears witness to the excellence and attractiveness of Milan University in life science research. It seizes the opportunity to translate the discoveries and innovations of our scientific community into tangible improvements in people's quality of life, advancing preclinical projects to the level required to compete on the market. My hope is that, in this way, our university will be able to give a tangible contribution to technology transfer as a key mission for public researchers", said Maria Pia Abbracchio, Vice Rector in charge of Research Coordination and Promotion at Milan University.

Professor Gianvito Martino, scientific director of IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele in Milan, said: "The creation of the Extend Hub testifies once again how the pharmaceutical sector is the one in which academia-industry partnerships are consolidating the most on a global level. We warmly welcome this initiative, in which we participate with conviction, since we believe that it is precisely in this field that the collaboration between research, industry and the financial sector - even with the creation of start-ups - is an unavoidable path to be truly competitive internationally".

About Evotec's BRIDGE model: Partnering to accelerate innovation

Evotec has created a new paradigm to translate early-stage academic research to drug discovery and development called "BRIDGE" (Biomedical Research, Innovation & Development Generation Efficiency), an integrated fund and award framework to tap into academic science to accelerate the formation of spin-out companies and generate collaborations with Pharma and biotech. Through these efforts, Evotec has defined a new formula for fast-track early-stage drug discovery. Since the launch of the BRIDGE model in 2016, Evotec has formed and funded a number of different collaborations, e.g. LAB282, LAB150, Autobahn-Labs, Argobio, beLAB2122, beLAB1407, and Danube Labs. Please visit www.evotec.com/en/innovate/bridges to learn more about Evotec's BRIDGEs.

ABOUT CDP VENTURE CAPITAL

CDP Venture Capital is an asset management company (70% owned by CDP Equity and 30% owned by Invitalia) with over 1.8 billion euro of assets under management. It aims to make venture capital a strategic pillar to Italy's economic development and innovation, creating the conditions for a comprehensive and sustainable growth of the venture capital ecosystem. It operates through a series of funds that aim to support start-ups in all their life cycle stages, making both direct and indirect investments.

ABOUT ANGELINI VENTURES

Angelini Ventures is a global investments group that creates and invests in innovative solutions and ideas in the fields of biotechnology, life sciences and digital healthcare.
Angelini Ventures will invest in Europe, North America and Israel with a focus on the central nervous system, mental health and market segments focused on women, children and the elderly. The company is based in Rome and has a global team composed of an international network of innovation experts.
Angelini Ventures is part of Angelini Industries, the international industrial group operating in 21 countries, with 5,800 employees, and annual revenues of €1.7 billion. 
Angelini Industries operates in the pharmaceutical, consumer goods, industrial technology, perfumes and dermo-cosmetics, wine and venture capital businesses.  For more information, please visit angeliniventures.com

ABOUT EVOTEC SE

Evotec is a life science company with a unique business model that delivers on its mission to discover and develop highly effective therapeutics and make them available to the patients. The Company's multimodality platform comprises a unique combination of innovative technologies, data and science for the discovery, development, and production of first-in-class and best-in-class pharmaceutical products. Evotec leverages this "Data-driven R&D Autobahn to Cures" for proprietary projects and within a network of partners including all Top 20 Pharma and over 800 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, as well as other healthcare stakeholders. Evotec has strategic activities in a broad range of currently underserved therapeutic areas, including e.g. neurology, oncology, as well as metabolic and infectious diseases. Within these areas of expertise, Evotec aims to create the world-leading co-owned pipeline for innovative therapeutics and has to-date established a portfolio of more than 200 proprietary and co-owned R&D projects from early discovery to clinical development. Evotec operates globally with more than 4,500 highly qualified people. The Company's 16 sites offer highly synergistic technologies and services and operate as complementary clusters of excellence. For additional information please go to www.evotec.com and follow us on Twitter @Evotec and LinkedIn.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This announcement contains forward-looking statements concerning future events, including the proposed offering and listing of Evotec's securities. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "should," "target," "would" and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements include comments regarding Evotec's expectations for revenues, Group EBITDA and unpartnered R&D expenses. These forward-looking statements are based on the information available to, and the expectations and assumptions deemed reasonable by Evotec at the time these statements were made. No assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been correct. These statements involve known and unknown risks and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates, which are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the control of Evotec. Evotec expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Evotec's expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.

Media Contact Evotec SE:
Gabriele Hansen, SVP Head of Global Corporate Communications, Phone: +49.(0)40.56081-255, gabriele.hansen@evotec.com

Hinnerk Rohwedder, Senior Specialist Corporate Communications, Tel.: +49.(0)151 4070-4843, hinnerk.rohwedder@evotec.com

IR Contact Evotec SE:
Volker Braun, SVP Head of Global Investor Relations & ESG, Phone: +49.(0)40.56081-775, volker.braun@evotec.com

SOURCE: Evotec SE