Evotec acquires Kinaxo; expands discovery and development platform.
The agreement was announced to the Frankfurt stock exchange on Friday, and will see Evotec pay an initial €12m for Kinaxo, consisting of €3m in cash and 2.6m shares; plus performance-related earn-out payments of up to €4m.
Hamburg-based Evotec claims the acquisition confirms its position as a leading drug discovery and development partner for pharma and biotechnology companies.
Werner Lanthaler, CEO of Evotec, said: “Through the acquisition of Kinaxo, Evotec gains access to a highly innovative technology base in drug discovery. We are proud to significantly strengthen our performance-based discovery offering to out customers with this unique value proposition.”
Kinaxo specialises in chemical proteomics to support the development of small molecule drugs, and is considered a fast-growing business with expected revenue of €2.5m. Evotec hopes the addition of the company's novel technologies will allow it to take earlier decisions on drug efficacy, safety and response in patients.
“We are excited to join forces with Evotec,” said Andreas Jenne, CEO of Kinaxo, “Our technology portfolio perfectly fits into Evotec's integrated service offering. This will allow us to fully leverage our capabilities and grow our business much faster within larger discovery alliances.”
Axel Ulrich, founder of Kinaxo and director of the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsreid, Germany said: “Kinaxo has built a unique technology platform. The integration of the leading drug discovery capability will implement Evotec as a driver towards personalised medicine in the future.”
Despite an initial outlay of €4m covering the transaction and integration costs of acquiring Kinaxo, Evotec expects to maintain a strong strategic cash balance in 2011, with revenues expected to grow by more than 15 per cent.
