Hamburg, Germany | Oxfordshire, UK | New Haven, CT, USA - Evotec OAI AG (Deutsche Börse: EVT, TecDAX 30), a partner for integrated high-value-added drug discovery to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, and Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held United States biotechnology company focused on the design and development of the next generation of antibiotics to fight multidrug-resistant bacteria, today announced the formation of a medicinal chemistry partnership.  
 
Scientists from Rib-X and Evotec OAI will collaborate on several research programmes. Evotec OAI will be utilising its state-of-the-art integrated medicinal chemistry and parallel synthesis platform to facilitate Rib-X's efforts to identify novel antibiotics for clinical development.
 
Joern Aldag, President and Chief Executive Officer of Evotec OAI, said: "The founders and scientists at Rib-X have made tremendous progress in securing the competitive position of their anti-infective drug discovery technology. We are delighted that they have chosen Evotec OAI to support them in their efforts to address the growing problem of resistance to commonly used antibiotics."
 
"We have a great deal of respect for Joern and his team at Evotec," said Dr. Susan Froshauer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rib-X. "Having toured their state-of-the-art facilities and conferred with their scientific staff, we are quite confident that Evotec offers excellent technical expertise to augment our research.
 
About Evotec OAI AG
Evotec OAI has established itself as the partner of choice for drug discovery and development services for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide, maintaining its leadership role through innovation and unmatched customer service.
The Company's business strategy is clearly focussed on drug discovery. It has established the most comprehensive technology platform and skills that integrate its world-class biology and chemistry capabilities. Evotec OAI leverages this discovery engine in providing assay development and screening through to compound optimisation and drug manufacturing services to a broad and well-established network of customers. In addition, the Company engages in selected discovery programmes itself to develop drug candidates for early out-licensing. Evotec OAI's instrument and technology business is now successfully handled by its affiliate, Evotec Technologies.
With over 600 people in Hamburg, Germany and Abingdon, UK, Evotec OAI is dedicated to returning value to its shareholders and employees through a sustainable business strategy that balances short-term and long-term revenue opportunities.
www.evotecoai.com
 
About Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Rib-X Pharmaceuticals is a small molecule drug discovery company focused on the structure-based design of new classes of anti-infective agents.  The Company's drug discovery strategy is focused on the exploitation of its proprietary high-resolution crystal structure of the 50S subunit of the ribosome, which performs an essential role in the fundamental process of protein synthesis, and to which many known antibiotics bind.  The 50S is the target for many clinically important classes of antibiotics, including those used to treat both community-acquired and hospital pathogens.  The Company's integrated research approach combines state of the art, proprietary computational analysis, x-ray crystallography, medicinal chemistry, microbiology and biochemistry, allowing for the rapid synthesis of new agents, which avoid typical antibiotic resistance mechanisms.  Utilizing these tools, Rib-X has what amounts to a map of the 50S subunit of the ribosome. The Company is utilizing this advantage in the optimization of leads and the creation of new classes of antibiotics.
For more information about the ribosome and the Rib-X mission, please visit the Company website at www.rib-x.com.
 
Contact:
Evotec OAI AG:
Anne Hennecke
+49 40 56081 286
anne.hennecke@evotecoai.com
 
Rx Communications Group:
Rhonda Chiger (investors)
917-322-2569
rchiger@rxir.com
 
Pete Holmberg (media)
917-322-2164
pholmberg@rxir.com