Evotec AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Prime Standard, ISIN: DE 000 566480 9, WKN 566480) today announced that the Company will acquire the zebrafish screening operations of Summit Corporation plc, including operations in Abingdon, UK, and Singapore, for £ 0.5 million in cash.

Summit's zebrafish technology is a strong addition to Evotec's industrialized high-quality drug discovery platform. This capability is valuable to drug discovery as it provides important whole organism data about the safety and toxicity of drug-like molecules at an early stage of lead optimization. It thereby allows prioritization of the most promising compounds early in the drug discovery process, reducing the risk of potential later-stage failure and, ultimately, lowering costs in drug discovery and development.
Founded in 2003, Summit has built the world's leading zebrafish capability. Evotec gets access to a portfolio of validated safety pharmacology and toxicology assays and disease models for target validation that enjoy growing interest in the industry. Summit had collaborated with more than 25 pharmaceutical companies worldwide, including Johnson & Johnson, Bayer-Schering, Merck KGaA, Merz, Roche and Servier. Evotec expects this business to contribute revenue in 2009 (May to December) and to rapidly grow revenue and profitability over the next two years, adding approximately £ 1.5 million revenues in 2010.

The integration of this business offers significant synergies, including the move of Summit's UK operations into Evotec's facilities in Abingdon, the integration of this offering into Evotec's global sales and marketing network as well as the use of the Singapore facility as a base to target new growth markets in the Far East, expanding Evotec's current business reach.

Besides strict cost containment one core element of the Evotec 2012 Action Plan to Focus and Grow is the further investment and expansion of the Company's unique Discovery Alliance Business. This transaction is a first example of how Evotec will continue to develop this business to build on its world-class leadership role.
Contact: Anne Hennecke, SVP, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications, Evotec AG, Schnackenburgallee 114, 22525 Hamburg, Germany, Phone: +49.(0)40.560 81-286, anne.hennecke@evotec.com