(New: Xetra price)

FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX Broker) - A buy recommendation from Citigroup has driven Evotec shares strongly on Corpus Christi. Especially the classification as a possible "Tesla of biologics manufacturers" sounds appealing. Shortly after the start of Xetra trading on Thursday, Evotec shares climbed a good four percent to 21.99 euros, another high for the year.

Citi analyst Peter Verdult had massively raised his price target from 21.00 to 31.60 euros. In the best case, he even considers 48 euros to be possible. The story of the in-house platform Just - Evotec Biologics, with which the Bavarians have been advertising for years, has gained enormously in contour through the latest deal with Novartis subsidiary Sandoz, said Verdult. For the possible $640 million in development milestone payments envisioned by the contract with the Swiss, he sees "relatively low risks."/ag/mis