HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - Drug discovery and development company Evotec, through its US subsidiary Just Evotec Biologics, has received another order from the US Department of Defense. The contract is for the rapid development of monoclonal antibody-based drugs against smallpox virus. It is worth up to 74 million U.S. dollars (68 million euros), the company announced in Hamburg on Wednesday. The share rose by almost 3 percent in the morning at the top of the MDax.

The stock had already gained the previous day, after an almost unbroken downward phase since the interim high in early June. For Evotec, the order is an important milestone for the still relatively young production facility in the USA. Initially, the plant had been struggling with capacity utilization, but customer acquisition is slowly gaining momentum. In May, Evotec announced a lucrative research alliance with Novartis subsidiary Sandoz.

The smallpox viruses that are the focus of the new contract include monkeypox and cowpox. Although vaccines exist for some of these viruses, there is no approved antibody treatment for infections caused by these viruses. In September last year, Evotec was awarded a first contract under the accelerated antibody program for the development of drug prototypes against plague. This contract was valued at $ 49.9 million.

Evotec has already been repeatedly contracted by the U.S. government in recent years - most recently in the fight against the Corona pandemic./knd/lew/men