Evolva announces $26.7 million award from the United States Defense Threat Reduction Agency

8th November 2006 -- Evolva Biotech SA (Allschwil, Switzerland) a biotech company focused on the discovery and development of drugs based on genetic chemistry approaches today announced that it has received a $26.7 million award from the United States Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) for the discovery and development of therapeutics that improve the ability of humans to resist diverse pathogens, in particular potential biowarfare or bioterrorism agents.

Evolva will use the award over a five year period to discover and develop compounds through to the filing of Investigational New Drug applications. Evolva will conduct this program in collaboration with Isconova AB (Uppsala, Sweden).

Neil Goldsmith, Managing Director of Evolva, said “The DTRA award shows the potential applicability of our genetic chemistry technologies to a further therapeutic area. It allows us to build a pipeline of compounds with immunomodulatory and other effects that can assist humans resist pathogens and other diseases, including as yet uncharacterised threats. Isconova is providing invaluable knowledge of relevant targets, structures and disease biology”.

About Evolva. Evolva evolves small molecule drugs using massively combinatorial gene libraries that drive chemistry rich pathways. Its Watchmaker® technology platform replicates, on an industrial basis, the ability of nature to evolve molecules with exquisite “design”, but with the evolution directly aimed at making functional drugs – HIV blockers, anti-obesity compounds etc. Watchmaker® can create, optimize and manufacture molecules that are outside the scope of the traditional synthetic approaches of the industry. For more information see www.evolva.com.

About the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) safeguards America and its allies from weapons of mass destruction by providing capabilities to reduce, eliminate, and counter the threat, and mitigate its effects. This Department of Defense agency is located at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and operates field offices worldwide. For further information see www.dtra.mil.
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Evolva SA
+41 (0)61 485 2000
neilg@evolva.com

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