Evotec, based in Germany, has entered into a multiyear compound management agreement with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Department of Health and Human Services. Evotec will provide compound management services to the NCI Chemical Biology Consortium (CBC) for a period of five years with a total estimated value of up to €4.5 million ($4.9 million).

The NCI Chemical Biology Consortium contract will continue to provide to acquire, store, maintain and distribute the current library collection. The repository will form part of the CBC’s drug discovery and development platform for new oncology therapeutics being researched by a consortium of primarily academic and nonprofit institutions.

The NCI CBC was established in 2009 to facilitate the discovery and development of new agents to treat cancer. The Consortium brings together chemical biologists and molecular oncologists from government, industry and academia to address unmet needs in therapeutic oncology. Through the CBC and the interactions among the various participants, the NCI’s drug discovery and development pipeline now spans from target identification through proof-of-concept clinical trials.