Evotec acquires CDMO Just Biotherapeutics in US$90m deal

Just Biotherapeutics started in 2015 with the mission to optimise and produce biologics at a price affordable even for low income countries. For the application of its technological solution, the Seattle-based company received grants for projects worth more than $30m in grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Under the agreement, Just Biotherapeutics will receive €54m ($60m) upfront from Evotec. In addition, the company is eglible to recieve €27 ($30m) in potential earn outs in the next three years. The acquisition of 100% of the issued and outstanding equity interests of the company will be paid in cash to a syndicate of institutional investors of ARCH Venture Partners, Merck & Co., Lilly Asia Ventures and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

With the acquisition, Evotec expands its drug discovery services to the pharmaceutical industry. While Evotec has been a bankable specialist in small molecule discovery and development, Seattle-based Just Biotherapeutics (Just.Bio) has used machine-learning for the design, development, and manufacturing of optimised biologics. Strategically, the deal complements Evotec’s position in the small molecule field offering new CDMO business opportunities in therapeutic areas such as oncology, CNS, pain, inflammation, metabolics, and infectious diseases.

"With this acquisition we finally found the perfect match to complement our leadership in small molecules," commented Werner Lanthaler, CEO of Evotec SE. Dr James Thomas, CEO of Just.Bio, added: "Combining Just.Bio with Evotec creates a technological powerhouse that will fuel our long-term mission to make important biologics accessible to patients worldwide.

Just.Bio’s capabilities and expertise comprise an in-house, integrated technology platform, J.DESIGN, enabling smart and efficient biologics’ drug development from design and lead optimisation to manufacturing:

• J.MD^TM is a technology-based process development tool using Abacus^TM as machine learning-based computer-aided design tool to predict and select molecules with improved  manufacturability and stability for further development that are cevaluated using assays that indicate how well a molecule is expressed, purified and formulated. Learnings from each molecule are used to improve the toolset for future molecules
• JP3^® includes proprietary cell lines, vectors and media along with computational and analytical tools that enable rapid cGMP-compliant process development and scale-up in fed-batch and continuous mode.
• J.POD^® designate technologies used to set up and operate low cost clinical and commercial stage biomanufacturing facilities. A modular single-use equipped facility, that mirrors the capabilities at the Seattle site, is under construction with the affiliate company Hangzhou Just.

With reported 2018 revenues of about €20m, Just.Bio was able to achieve revenue growth rates that were above the general market growth.