Hamburg, Germany | Abingdon, UK | Boston, USA - Evotec OAI AG, Hamburg, Germany (Neuer Markt: EVT), a partner for integrated high-value-added drug discovery to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, announced today the signing of a drug discovery agreement with Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Boston, USA.
 
Under the terms of the agreement, Evotec OAI will provide Infinity with a range of biology and screening services necessary to identify novel active compounds against multiple Infinity targets. Using its proprietary ultra-high-throughput screening technology EVOscreen® Evotec OAI will perform reagent production, assay development, screening and some further characterisation of identified hits (hit profiling).
 
Joern Aldag, President and Chief Executive Officer of Evotec OAI, said: "Infinity is a pioneering young pharmaceutical company with a novel approach to the design and synthesis of diverse and complex, yet drug-like compounds for drug discovery. In bringing forth such chemistries, Infinity is positioned to capitalise on Evotec OAI's established biochemical and biology assets which complement Infinity's internal biology and knowledge-sharing efforts. We are delighted that an exciting young biotech company like Infinity has chosen Evotec OAI as their drug discovery partner for assay development and biochemical screening."
 
Steven Holtzman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Infinity Pharmaceuticals, added:
"In our view, Evotec OAI has established a unique and superior technology platform for drug discovery, and are the clear industry leader for uHTS screening.  In collaboration with the scientists at Evotec OAI, we have developed a thorough understanding of Evotec OAI's capabilities and commitment to quality.  This agreement provides Infinity with immediate access to state of the art uHTS technology and expertise which will provide a vast amount of biochemical information about our novel drug molecules. We look forward to the fruits of this collaboration, which represents a key component of our initial drug discovery efforts."
 
About Evotec OAI AG
Evotec OAI offers a comprehensive range of high-value added services and products required to increase the efficiency and at the same time reduce the risk in the identification of new drugs. By integrating proprietary state-of-the-art technologies and processes in biology, chemistry and screening, the Company has established a unique position for all the critical elements in the drug discovery and development process - from target to clinical development. Due to its extensive know how and experience Evotec OAI is the ideal partner for pharma and biotech companies world-wide. To date, Evotec OAI has completed over 1,200 projects with 150 companies, including all of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies and major biotechs.
The Company employs nearly 600 people, primarily at its two main sites at Hamburg in Germany and Abingdon in the UK. Subsidiaries are located in Europe and North America. In 2001 Evotec OAI achieved revenues of EUR 63.2 million. Evotec OAI shares are listed on the Neuer Markt of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since November 1999 (NM: EVT).

About Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an emerging drug discovery company, committed to improving human health by changing drug discovery to bring important new medicines to patients. The Company combines the use of diversity-oriented synthesis, to generate its unique Infiniplex(TM) chemical libraries, with capabilities in informatics, chemical genetics and chemical genomics to discover and develop active and selective new drug candidates for a broad, expanded range of well-validated biological targets and to identify novel targets. Infinity's initial drug discovery efforts cover cancer, metabolic disorders, infectious disease, and inflammatory disease.
Founded in 2001 by world leaders in chemistry, genomic biology, medicine, information sciences and industry, Infinity is located in Boston, Massachusetts and currently employs approximately 60 people.
 
Contact Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc.:
Steven Holtzman,
President and CEO
650 Albany Street
Boston, MA02118, USA
Tel: +1-617-859-9700
Fax: +1-617-859-9703