Sanofi has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Evotec, a drug discovery alliance and development partnership company, for scientific activities at the Sanofi R&D site in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne), France. This strategic collaboration aims to sustain a high level of scientific and technological activities, maintain jobs and attract new talent and projects to the site.

The collaboration agreement includes the divestiture to Evotec of Sanofi's Research and Technological platform activities, which match Evotec's areas of experience as well as the continuation of these activities and the corresponding transfer of the employees currently involved in these activities.

For Sanofi, the strategic collaboration also involves a financial commitment of $274 million over a five-year period for the implementation of a multi-year research program including, among other projects, the creation of a support fund dedicated to developing scientific collaboration with academic partners in France.

This agreement successfully concludes the exclusive discussions entered into by the two companies on Dec. 2, 2014. It also follows the information-consultation procedure of employee representative institutions, finalized by Sanofi on March 10. This procedure has been supplemented with an agreement on supporting measures signed by three trade unions, CFE-CGC, CFTC and CFDT, resulting from a constructive social dialogue. The agreement is expected to be effective as of March 31.

Evotec has thus become the sixth Bioparc resident company to benefit from the services and scientific infrastructures which Sanofi’s support platform offers to all start-ups, biotechnology companies and academic players seeking to settle in the heart of the Oncopole.