HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - The collaboration between the drug discovery and development company Evotec and the US pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) continues to bear fruit. Evotec will receive 25 million US dollars to advance further research, the MDax-listed company announced in Hamburg on Monday. Evotec and BMS have already been working together for several years on the search for active substances in the field of nerve diseases. Over time, Evotec will receive performance-based milestone payments and tiered license fees up to a low double-digit percentage on product sales. The news was well received on the stock market.

The share price rose by one percent on Monday morning, making up some further ground after the stock had temporarily fallen by more than a fifth in the first week of January when the previous CEO Werner Lanthaler surprisingly announced his resignation. But even before that, Evotec investors had to prove their nerve on several occasions. Last year, the share price fluctuated wildly, partly due to a profit warning and a hacker attack.

However, the highs from 2021 remained a long way off during the share's ups and downs. At that time, one share cost over 45 euros at times. Since the end of August 2022, the share price has not exceeded the EUR 25 mark. The share was last quoted at just over 18 euros on Monday.

According to analyst Charles Weston from the Canadian bank RBC, the milestone payment reduces the risks for Evotec's annual targets. He was also positively surprised by the amount of the payment: he had expected somewhat less for the recently started year.

In March 2023, the companies extended the neurology partnership concluded in 2016 by eight years. At the time, Evotec put the possible total volume including upfront, license and milestone payments as well as royalties at four billion dollars (3.7 billion euros)./lew/nas/men