August 30, 2018

Evotec and CHDI Foundation extend ongoing collaboration to fight Huntington’s disease

Strategic alliance with CHDI to accelerate development of drugs for Huntington’s disease

One of the largest strategic drug discovery alliances within Evotec

Hamburg, Germany, 30 August 2018:

Evotec AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, TecDAX, ISIN: DE0005664809) today announced that CHDI Foundation, Inc. (“CHDI”) has extended its collaboration with Evotec through to 2023. Over this period, CHDI may fund up to 75 full-time scientists at Evotec.

The collaboration was initiated in 2006 and has grown considerably over this period to fully utilise Evotec’s best-in-class integrated neuroscience platform. The extension of this collaboration is a further validation of Evotec’s investment in new technologies and capabilities in support of driving innovative drug discovery collaborations. Evotec provides CHDI with a full range of research activities and expertise in the neuroscience area, including integrated biology and chemistry supported by compound and library management, target validation, stem cell research, high-content screening, computational chemistry, in vitro pharmacokinetics, proteomics and protein production.

Dr Mario Polywka, Chief Operating Officer of Evotec, commented: “We are delighted to sign this five-year extension with CHDI. Both parties have developed a tremendous relationship based on progressing excellent science to develop effective treatments for Huntington’s disease. We are proud to be part of this global initiative led by the great team at CHDI.” “CHDI’s collaboration with our colleagues at Evotec represents one of our largest and longest-standing relationships”, said Robi Blumenstein, President of CHDI Management, Inc. “Over the next five years, we look forward to continuing this collaboration with an important strategic partner in our drive to develop therapeutics that substantially improve the lives of Huntington’s disease families.”

About Huntington’s Disease

Huntington’s disease is a familial disease caused by a mutation in the huntingtin gene. Each child of a parent with the mutation in the huntingtin gene has a 50-50 chance of inheriting the mutation. As a result of carrying the mutation, an individual’s brain cells fail and die leading to cognitive and physical impairments that, over the course of the disease, significantly impair the individual’s quality of life and ultimately cause death. Symptoms of Huntington’s disease, which generally develop in midlife and become progressively more debilitating as time passes, can also develop in infancy or old age. Once overt symptoms start, patients live for about 15 to 20 years. There is currently no way to delay the onset of symptoms or slow the progression of Huntington’s disease. It is estimated that the disorder affects about 30,000 people in the United States and at least 150,000 others have a 50% risk of developing Huntington’s disease at some point.

About CHDI Foundation, Inc.

CHDI Foundation, Inc., is a privately funded nonprofit biomedical research organization that is exclusively dedicated to rapidly developing therapies that slow the progression of Huntington’s disease. As a collaborative enabler, CHDI seeks to bring the right partners together to identify and address critical scientific issues and move drug candidates to clinical evaluation as quickly as possible. CHDI scientists work closely with a network of more than 700 researchers in academic and industrial laboratories and clinical sites around the world in the pursuit of these novel therapies, providing strategic scientific direction to ensure that our common goals remain in focus. More information about CHDI can be found at www.chdifoundation.org.

About Evotec AG

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 2,400 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 and fibrosis. 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, Celgene, CHDI, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Sanofi, Takeda, UCB and others. For additional information please go to www.evotec.com and follow us on Twitter @EvotecAG.