Evotec OAI, a partner for integrated high-value-added drug discovery services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, has signed an assay development and screening contract to identify drug candidates for several undisclosed Novartis targets.

Joern Aldag, President and Chief Executive Officer of Evotec OAI, commented: "Following a successful collaboration in the development of our EVOscreen uHTS system, Novartis has chosen Evotec OAI to support their lead discovery efforts. We are delighted that one of the world's leading R&D organisations has chosen our expertise in drug discovery and our technology platform in this critical area of research."

In early 1996 Novartis decided to invest in the development of Evotec OAI's EVOscreen uHTS technology, becoming the first technology development collaborator.

Evotec OAI provides the full spectrum of services to take clients' projects from target to IND. Fast assay development and highly sensitive high-throughput screening services are part of its integrated offering. Applying innovative and validated proprietary technologies, more than 120 novel biological assays have been developed from a wide variety of target classes, including kinases, phosphatases, proteases, GPCRs, ion channels, DNA-binding proteins and protein/protein interactions. In 2002 the Company greatly increased its capabilities in performing cellular assays including reporter assays, protein translocation and cytotoxicity assays at the medium throughput and uHTS level.