Deal Marks First Agreement under Innovative Alliance between Evotec OAI and Oxford Bioscience Partners
 
Hamburg, Germany | Abingdon, UK | Cambridge, Mass., USA - Evotec OAI AG (NM: EVT), a partner for integrated high-value-added drug discovery services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, and Elixir Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a genomics-based drug discovery company developing pharmaceuticals that slow aging and delay the onset of age-related diseases, today announced the signing of a three-year agreement for Evotec OAI to provide Elixir with a broad range of chemical and biological drug discovery and development services. Elixir's relationship with Evotec OAI will be governed by a broader three-year agreement between Oxford Bioscience Partners (OBP) with Evotec OAI to supply chemistry and biology services to the OBP portfolio companies. 
 
Ed Cannon, Chief Executive Officer of Elixir Pharmaceuticals commented: "We are thrilled to be the first company to take advantage of the benefits of the OBP - Evotec OAI arrangement to access a unique and broad based high-quality drug discovery technology platform. Elixir's approach to creating long-term value is to focus our internal resources on understanding the biology and genetics of aging and disease as a source of novel drug targets. We will then use predictive models for both human aging and disease to pharmacologically validate our drug leads. This agreement with Evotec OAI helps us to bridge the critical gap between target discovery and pharmacological validation."
 
Elixir will utilise Evotec OAI's medicinal chemistry skills to design compounds for use in Elixir's discovery programs and to rapidly progress compounds from hit-to-lead into lead optimisation. Evotec OAI will also provide development chemistry and later scale up of leads. In addition, Elixir is working with Evotec OAI to set up and conduct high throughput screens (HTS) of Evotec OAI's library of 280,000 drug-like chemical compounds against Elixir targets. In the future, Elixir may leverage Evotec OAI's services for new targets to develop assays, configure screens and run HTS against either Evotec OAI's large corporate library or smaller custom or biased libraries developed by Elixir. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
 
Joern Aldag, President and Chief Executive Officer of Evotec OAI added:
"We are delighted that Elixir, a leader in the new science of aging, has become our first customer under our strategic agreement with OBP. Elixir's foundation of expertise in the biology and genetics of aging leaves them ideally positioned to capitalise on the breadth of Evotec OAI's established chemistry and biology processes."
 
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 more than 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 Elixir
Elixir Pharmaceuticals is a genomics-based drug discovery company developing products that slow aging and forestall age-related diseases.  The Company's technology is based on recently discovered longevity genes, that when altered, slow aging and extend the life span in laboratory organisms.  These genes and the pathways in which they act are conserved in humans.  Elixir's mission is to replicate these genetic results with pharmaceuticals that slow aging, reduce the disease and disability that accompany aging and extend youthfulness in humans.
 

Elixir Contacts:
Ed Cannon
President and CEO
Elixir Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(617) 995-7000
 
Evotec OAI Contacts:
Dr. Dirk H. Ehlers
Chief Financial Officer
+49.(0)40.560 81-241
dirk.ehlers@evotecoai.com
 
Media:
Kari Lampka
Director
MacDougall BioCommunications, Inc.
(508) 647-0209
klampka@macbiocom.com
 
Anne Hennecke
Investor Relations,
Corporate Communications
+49.(0)40.560 81-286
anne.hennecke@evotecoai.com