Sanofi and Evotec to establish new innovation research platform

Sanofi has entered exclusive negotiations with Evotec to develop an open innovation platform near Lyon, France.

This agreement would see Sanofi license most of its infectious disease research and early-stage development portfolio to Evotec, as well as transferring its infectious disease research unit, excluding the vaccine unit and related projects.

Evotec would then combine its drug discovery and development expertise with these new assets and experts, with the aim of expanding and accelerating anti-infective drug discovery and development through open collaborations with other partners.

This transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2018, with Sanofi to pay Evotec a cash upfront payment of EUR 60 million (GBP 53.54 million) and significant further long-term funding to ensure support and progression of the portfolio.

Dr Elias Zerhouni, president of global research and development at Sanofi, said: "Research in the field of anti-infectives is an area where building critical mass through partnering is particularly important. This new French-based open innovation center will benefit from the high-quality science ecosystem."

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