PRESS RELEASE : Evotec Starts Clinical Development of Chikungunya Antibody together with NIAID and Leading Academic Research Organisation

DGAP-News: Evotec SE / Key word(s): Miscellaneous 
Evotec Starts Clinical Development of Chikungunya Antibody together with NIAID and Leading Academic Research 
Organisation 
2021-01-28 / 07:30 
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. 
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  . FIRST DOSE OF EVT894, A MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY AGAINST CHIKUNGUNYA VIRUS ADMINISTERED TO A HEALTHY PARTICIPANT IN A 
    PHASE I STUDY 
  . DEVELOPMENT OF EVT894 BY EVOTEC TOGETHER WITH ITS PARTNERS NIAID AND DUKE CLINICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE 
  . ADDRESSING UNMET MEDICAL NEEDS IN GLOBAL HEALTH 
Hamburg, Germany, 28 January 2021: 
Evotec SE (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: EVT, MDAX/TecDAX, ISIN: DE0005664809) today announced that EVT894, a monoclonal 
antibody to treat and potentially prevent chikungunya virus infections, has entered clinical development. 
The Phase I, randomised, double-blind, single centre, single dose escalation study to evaluate the safety, 
pharmacokinetics, and immunogenicity of EVT894 vs placebo in healthy volunteers (five dose-cohorts of 8 subjects) is 
sponsored and funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ("NIAID"), part of the National 
Institutes of Health with funds from a Phase I Clinical Trial Units for Therapeutics programme award (Contract No. 
HHSN272201500006I) and is being conducted at Duke Clinical Research Institute ("DCRI"), at Duke University School of 
Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, USA. 
Chikungunya virus is a mosquito-borne alphavirus that poses a significant threat to public health in tropical and 
subtropical regions. Chikungunya disease is characterised by debilitating musculoskeletal pain that can persist for 
months to years. Although mortality is not high, the public health burden is significant: 1.3 billion people live in 
areas endemic for chikungunya and it is prevalent in approximately 60 countries across the world, typically occurring 
in seasonal outbreaks. In recent years, chikungunya virus reached new areas including non-tropical regions. There are 
currently no effective therapies or approved vaccines to treat or prevent chikungunya infection or disease. 
EVT894 is a fully human monoclonal antibody that targets a viral protein and has shown potent neutralising activity in 
in vitro and in vivo models. The antibody was originally identified by Prof. James E. Crowe, and others at Vanderbilt 
University Medical Center, in Nashville, Tennessee (supported by NIH government grants: K08 AI103038, F32 AI096833, and 
U54 AI057157, awarded by the National Institutes of Health). 
The monoclonal antibody was initially developed by Sanofi and was among the projects out-licensed to Evotec as part of 
the transfer of Sanofi's Lyon-based infectious disease R&D unit to Evotec in July 2018. Thanks to its exclusive rights 
on EVT894, and with support from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the US Department of Defense and from 
NIAID, Evotec was able to pursue pre-clinical development to identify an investigational product with both therapeutic 
and prophylactic potential that has now entered Phase I. At a certain point during the clinical development process, 
Evotec will take over manufacturing of EVT894 at its biologics subsidiary Just - Evotec Biologics in Seattle, USA. 
Dr Cord Dohrmann, Chief Scientific Officer of Evotec, said: "Chikungunya virus infections are on the rise in many 
regions in the world. As EVT894 is a neutralising antibody that was derived from a chikungunya virus-infected patient, 
we believe it holds great promise to be become an effective therapeutic and prophylactic treatment option and is thus 
expected to make a real difference for people affected by the disease." 
About Chikungunya and EVT894 
Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne viral disease which causes fever and severe joint and muscle pain as well as headaches, 
nausea, fatigue and rashes. Joint pain is often debilitating and can persist for months to years. Currently, there is 
no targeted therapy for the disease and treatment is focused on relieving the symptoms. As the disease is 
mosquito-borne, it typically occurs in seasonal outbreaks in tropical regions, therefore yearly figures may differ 
significantly. In 2017, more than 1 million cases were reported in the Americas and Caribbean islands, and over the 
past decades the disease has spread to other, non-tropical regions as well. 
EVT894 is a first-in-class anti-viral therapeutic agent against chikungunya. The programme was initially developed by 
Sanofi as SAR440894. The Phase I study is registered on Clinicaltrials.gov under the identifier NCT04441905. EVT894 is 
a fully human monoclonal antibody which might also work as a prophylactic solution for immediate protection of people 
at risk during chikungunya outbreaks. Evotec is also developing a rapid, affordable and robust point-of-care 
chikungunya test that could serve as a companion diagnostic or stand-alone test for the virus. 
Evotec acknowledges the support of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ("DARPA") and NIAID, as well as 
several non-governmental and academic partners in advancing this project towards clinical testing. 
ABOUT EVOTEC SE 
Evotec is a drug discovery alliance and development partnership company focused on rapidly progressing innovative 
product approaches with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academics, patient advocacy groups and 
venture capitalists. We operate worldwide and our more than 3,500 employees provide the highest quality stand-alone and 
integrated drug discovery and development solutions. We cover all activities from target-to-clinic to meet the 
industry's need for innovation and efficiency in drug discovery and development (EVT Execute). The Company has 
established a unique position by assembling top-class scientific experts and integrating state-of-the-art technologies 
as well as substantial experience and expertise in key therapeutic areas including neuronal diseases, diabetes and 
complications of diabetes, pain and inflammation, oncology, infectious diseases, respiratory diseases, fibrosis, rare 
diseases and women's health. On this basis, Evotec has built a broad and deep pipeline of more than 100 co-owned 
product opportunities at clinical, pre-clinical and discovery stages (EVT Innovate). Evotec has established multiple 
long-term alliances with partners including Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, CHDI, Novartis, Novo 
Nordisk, Pfizer, Sanofi, Takeda, UCB and others. For additional information please go to www.evotec.com and follow us 
on Twitter @Evotec. 
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS 
Information set forth in this press release contains forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks and 
uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained herein represent the judgement of Evotec as of the date of this 
press release. Such forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but are subject to a variety of 
risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, and which could cause actual results to differ 
materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. We expressly disclaim any obligation or 
undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any such statements to reflect any change in our 
expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. 
Media Contact Evotec SE: 
Gabriele Hansen, SVP Head of Global Corporate Communications & Marketing, Phone: [phone], 
[e-mail] 
IR Contact Evotec SE: 
Volker Braun, SVP Head of Global Investor Relations & ESG, Phone: [phone], [e-mail] 
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2021-01-28 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. 
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. 
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Language:     English 
Company:      Evotec SE 
              Manfred Eigen Campus / Essener Bogen 7 
              22419 Hamburg 
              Germany 
Phone:        [phone] 
Fax:          [phone] 
E-mail:       [e-mail] 
Internet:     www.evotec.com 
ISIN:         DE0005664809 
WKN:          566480 
Indices:      MDAX, TecDAX 
Listed:       Regulated Market in Berlin, Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Regulated Unofficial Market in Dusseldorf, 
              Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate Exchange 
EQS News ID:  1163906 
 
End of News   DGAP News Service 
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1163906 2021-01-28

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 28, 2021 01:32 ET (06:32 GMT)