Evotec to Re-engineer Drug Discovery and Development Operations

• Evotec to concentrate all proprietary core research programs at its European operations
• Leveraging world-class Discovery Alliance Business infrastructure will lead to a minimum of EUR 10 million annual savings
• US operations will be wound down with immediate effect

Hamburg, Germany - Evotec AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT; NASDAQ: EVTC) announced today that in the context of its Evotec 2012 - Action Plan to Focus and Grow, the Company is re-engineering its drug discovery and development operations to improve efficiency and realize further cost saving potential.

The continuing strength of a successful Discovery Alliance Business gives Evotec the unique opportunity to more efficiently leverage its research and development infrastructure. As a consequence, all Evotec proprietary programs will be managed through its European operations. This will lead to a minimum of EUR 10 million annual cost savings from 2010 onwards. As a consequence, approximately 45 people will leave the Company, which will bring its workforce to a total of below 330, and the US operations of the Company's subsidiary Renovis, Inc. in South San Francisco, California will be wound down with immediate effect.

Dr Werner Lanthaler, Chief Executive Officer of Evotec AG, said: "In the context of our Evotec 2012 Action Plan to Focus and Grow we have identified strong synergistic potential in the concentration of our operations into one seamless process and operation. Through this re-engineering we will be able to most efficiently advance our proprietary core projects and deliver world-class drug discovery and development support to our partners. It also realizes significant cost savings necessary for optimal shareholder value creation. Unfortunately, however, it also means that we have to close down our operations in the United States. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all affected employees for their important contributions to Evotec." 

About the Evotec 2012 - Action Plan to Focus and Grow

Evotec has started to implement the Evotec 2012 Action Plan to Focus and Grow in March 2009. The plan's objective is to ensure that the Company can extend its cash reach comfortably beyond 2012, further grow its strong Discovery Alliance Business, reach important milestones within its development programs, and advance and enhance its pipeline to demonstrate meaningful value over this period. The core elements of this plan include actions to strengthen the Discovery Alliance Business, refocus the pipeline on the most valuable assets, build strategic alliances on more available projects and significantly reduce the operating expenses and strategic risks.

Forward-Looking Statements

Information set forth in this press release contains forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about our expectations and assumptions concerning future reductions in operating expenses and cash burn, regulatory, clinical and business strategies, the progress of our clinical development programs and timing of the results of our clinical trials, strategic collaborations and management's plans, objectives and strategies. These 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. In particular, the risks and uncertainties include, among other things: risks that product candidates may fail in the clinic or may not be successfully marketed or manufactured; risks relating to our ability to advance the development of product candidates currently in the pipeline or in clinical trials; our inability to further identify, develop and achieve commercial success for new products and technologies; the risk that competing products may be more successful; our inability to interest potential partners in our technologies and products; our inability to achieve commercial success for our products and technologies; our inability to protect our intellectual property and the cost of enforcing or defending our intellectual property rights; our failure to comply with regulations relating to our products and product candidates, including FDA requirements; the risk that the FDA may interpret the results of our studies differently than we have; the risk that clinical trials may not result in marketable products; the risk that we may be unable to successfully secure regulatory approval of and market our drug candidates; and risks of new, changing and competitive technologies and regulations in the U.S. and internationally.

The list of risks above is not exhaustive. Our most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other documents filed with, or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission, contain additional factors that could impact our businesses and financial performance. 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.