Evotec Achieves More Than 20% of Horizon Savings, Confirms Vertex Drug Manufacturing Deal
Key Facts
On November 5, Evotec confirmed that its unit Just – Evotec Biologics had been selected by Vertex Pharmaceuticals to commercially manufacture the drug povetacicept at its J.POD facility in Redmond, US. The company said manufacturing would be carried out for Vertex, placing its facility in the drug’s commercial supply chain. The statement did not disclose the value of the contract, so no figures are available for expected revenue or its direct financial impact. The announcement came alongside Evotec’s results for the third quarter and first nine months of 2026, which showed a mixed picture of improved quarterly profitability and weaker cumulative revenue. The company also reported progress on its Horizon cost-cutting program as it continued to implement a restructuring that includes workforce reductions and site closures.
Evotec said the Horizon program had delivered more than 20% of its targeted €75 million cost-base improvement by the end of September 2027. It said the achievement was within the range planned for 2026, representing a contribution of between 20% and 30% of the overall target. The progress provides an indication of the program’s pace, but coincides with a decline in group revenue in the first nine months and a widening of adjusted EBITDA losses. On execution, the company said about half of the planned workforce reductions had been completed by the end of September. It expects to complete three of the four planned site closures before the end of 2026, with the fourth site closure to be completed in the first quarter of 2027.
Evotec’s third-quarter revenue was €164.9 million, compared with €163.9 million in the same period of 2025, levels the company described as broadly stable. Adjusted EBITDA improved to a loss of €1.6 million from a loss of €15 million a year earlier, an 89.1% year-on-year improvement. Evotec attributed the improvement mainly to lower cost of revenue. But the picture over the first nine months was weaker: revenue fell to €465 million from €535.1 million, down 13.1% year on year. Adjusted EBITDA losses widened over the period to €44.3 million, compared with €16.9 million in the first nine months of 2025.
At Just – Evotec Biologics, the company attributed the nine-month revenue decline to two factors tied to the comparison period and timing: the sale of a license to Sandoz for $25 million in the first quarter of 2025 and delays to activities in some programs. It pointed, however, to growth in the core preclinical discovery and development business; its net sales rose 24% year on year in the first nine months of 2026. The business includes standalone services and integrated programs, and the company said sales indicators improved as its customer base expanded and bidding activity increased. This places growth in the core business alongside the high comparison base and program delays in explaining uneven performance across the group’s units. It also clarifies that the announced Vertex deal covers commercial manufacturing of povetacicept, while the company’s references to a collaboration with the US Department of War concern a separate antibody program for orthopox viruses.
Evotec ended the third quarter with liquidity of €400.9 million and said this level reflected a net debt position. The company forecast 2026 group revenue of between €570 million and €610 million, with adjusted EBITDA ranging from a loss of €105 million to a loss of €70 million. The guidance follows revenue of €465 million in the first nine months, while the full-year result remains tied to fourth-quarter performance and continued execution of the transformation plan. Over the longer term, the company’s framework targets revenue of about €1 billion by 2030. It also targets an adjusted EBITDA margin of 20% by the end of 2028 and more than 20% by the end of 2030, while site closure dates and completion of workforce reductions remain among the operational milestones announced for the coming period.