EVC Evolutec Grp

RNS Number:0755T
Evolutec Group PLC
16 March 2007

For immediate release

16 March 2007



                               Evolutec Group plc
                           ("Evolutec" or "Company")

                   Evolutec and Merial renew Option Agreement



Evolutec Group plc (AIM: EVO), the biopharmaceutical company developing novel
products for the treatment of allergic, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases,
announces that Merial Limited, a world-leading, innovation-driven animal health
company, has signed a new option agreement covering the animal health uses of
Evolutec's vaccine technology.



This new option agreement allows Merial time to complete studies commenced in
2006. It also builds on the positive result announced in 2005 in which Merial
demonstrated that Evolutec's vaccine technology significantly reduced the level
of Boophilus tick infestation in cattle, a cause of major productivity losses
due to disease transmission, hide (skin) damage and anaemia.



The agreement grants Merial a 12 month option to acquire exclusive worldwide
rights to Evolutec's vaccine technology to animal health uses in return for
licensing and milestone fees and a royalty on sales. Detailed financial terms
were not disclosed.



Merial's development programme will evaluate Evolutec's technology in the area
of vaccines against important tick-borne diseases in production and companion
animals and anti-tick vaccines. Any future development work will be undertaken
at Merial's expense.



                                      ENDS



Enquiries:


Evolutec                                                  0118 922 4480
Mark Carnegie Brown, Chief Executive Officer
Nicholas Badman, Chief Financial Officer
www.evolutec.co.uk

Numis                                                     020 7776 1500
Michael Meade

Financial Dynamics                                        020 7831 3113
David Yates
Ben Brewerton





Notes for Editors:



About Evolutec



Evolutec, which is based in Reading, UK, is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical
company with a focus on asthma and auto-immune diseases.



rEV576, the Company's lead product development candidate is a complement
inhibitor which has demonstrated preclinical activity against the autoimmune
diseases myasthenia gravis and Guillain-Barre Syndrome, asthma and acute
myocardial infarction ("AMI") (heart attack).  Evolutec has established a
research collaboration with Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, to
undertake further preclinical work with rEV576 in myasthenia gravis.



Evolutec is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and develops
therapeutics originally isolated from the saliva of ticks.  The tick remains
undetected by its hosts, including humans, by injecting an array of molecules
into the skin that suppresses host immunity.  These stealth molecules have
undergone millions of years of natural evolution to select a promising efficacy,
potency and safety profile. Evolutec employs the tick's evolutionary stealth
technology to offer the potential of treating human diseases.




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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