Evotec ups investment in biologic manufacturing facility in Toulouse

Shares of German biotech Evotec (EVT: Xetra) were up 2.3% at 34.39 euros by late afternoon today after it said it has initiated the construction of its J.POD 2 EU biologics manufacturing facility at Evotec's Campus Curie in Toulouse, France.

J.POD 2 EU, Evotec's second innovative cGMP biomanufacturing facility, will employ Just - Evotec Biologics' cutting-edge technology that utilizes small, automated, highly intensified and continuous bioprocessing operations housed inside autonomous cleanrooms.

J.POD 2 EU will be Evotec's first commercial biomanufacturing facility in Europe and is anticipated to deliver much needed capacity, flexibility and quality for biotherapeutic development and manufacturing. The construction of Evotec's first J.POD 1 US in Redmond, Washington, USA, is proceeding on schedule and will be fully operational in second-half 2021.

The build-up of J.POD 2 EU will be supported with up to 50 milli euros ($60.1 million) from the French government, the Occitanie Region, Bpifrance, the Haute-Garonne prefecture as well as Toulouse Métropole. The total investment that Evotec plans to undertake is currently estimated at around 150 million euros.