Hamburg CRO Evotec to cut costs further and reduce workforce by 800

The drug discovery services company is pushing ahead with a restructuring process that has been underway since 2024. With the new transformation programme “Horizon”, the Hamburg-based group aims to streamline its organisation, lower costs and place a stronger focus on higher-margin technologies. The strategy revolves around a new operating model built around three pillars: operations, science and commercial execution. Structures are to be simplified, scientific expertise pooled and the commercial organisation more closely aligned with customer needs.

One of the most significant changes concerns the company’s global footprint. After already reducing its number of sites from 19 to 14, Evotec plans to cut the network to just ten locations over the next two years. The move will also entail further job reductions, with up to 800 positions potentially being eliminated worldwide.

Concentration of corporate structure

At the same time, the company intends to consolidate key research activities in so-called Centres of Excellence. These will concentrate core technologies, data capabilities and scientific infrastructure in order to strengthen competitiveness in attractive segments of drug discovery and preclinical development.

Financially, the programme is aimed at significant savings. By the end of 2027, Evotec expects annual cost reductions of around €75 million. However, restructuring costs of roughly €100 million are also anticipated between 2026 and 2028. The company itself describes 2026 as a transition year, with the first operational improvements expected to become visible only in the second half.

Financial year broadly in line with expectations

Despite the ongoing restructuring, Evotec confirmed preliminary figures for 2025 within its previously issued guidance. Group revenues amounted to around €788 million, while adjusted EBITDA reached approximately €41 million. In particular, the biologics division Just – Evotec Biologics continued to perform strongly, expanding by about 40 per cent.

With the transformation, Evotec is pursuing ambitious long-term goals. By 2030, revenues are expected to exceed €1 billion, while the EBITDA margin is targeted to reach around 20 per cent by 2028. Achieving this, however, will depend on a recovery in demand in the early drug discovery market following the current slowdown.

The restructuring therefore marks the next stage in a far-reaching transformation of the company — focused on tighter cost control, a stronger emphasis on technology platforms and the hope of more profitable growth in the second half of the decade. What chief executive Christian Wojczewski, known for his numbers-driven background from his time at McKinsey & Company, has spoken comparatively little about since taking office is the future scientific direction of the company, including its research priorities, partnerships and longer-term strategy in scientific terms.

For the time being, the news has failed to convince investors, with the share price falling sharply.