Evotec SE expects to reduce its workforce by up to 800 people and close down more business sites in its drive to regain momentum following a two-year slowdown in the market for drug discovery and preclinical development. The Germany-based company is one of Europe’s larger biotech service and drug development organisations with a global presence in manufacturing. It is a Nasdaq-listed company which had a market capitalisation of €969 million on 31 December 2025.
Immunic Inc, a US-based biotech with a research arm in Germany, announced the awarding of a key patent by the European Patent Office on 10 March, strengthening its position ahead of the anticipated commercialisation of its lead product vidofludimus calcium (IMU-838) for multiple sclerosis. Vidofludimus is currently in Phase 3 with top line data expected at the end of 2026. If the data are positive, a regulatory review would follow.
Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci, co-founders of BioNTech SE, developer of the first vaccine to prevent Covid-19, are to embark on a new venture focused on exploring the therapeutic potential of messenger RNA. They will leave BioNTech, founded in 2008, in order to work on foundational science. For its part, BioNTech will concentrate on advancing a late clinical-stage pipeline of cancer therapies, “For us, this is the right time to prepare to hand over the baton,” said Dr Sahin in a statement issued on 10 March. “At the same time, Öziem and I are ready to become pioneers once again.”
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