Hamburg, Germany-based drug development specialist Evotec and French drugmaker Sanofi have entered into exclusive negotiations calling for Evotec to accelerate infectious disease research and development for Sanofi through a new open innovation platform near Lyon, France.

At the outset, the focus of drug discovery will be on new mode-of-action antimicrobials, the companies said.

The partnership, which will explore the expansion and acceleration of anti-infective drug discovery and development through open collaborations with other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, foundations, academia, and government agencies, will exclude Sanofi’s vaccine R&D unit and related projects.

Under the agreement, Evotec will integrate Sanofi's infectious disease research unit, which includes more than 100 employees, into its global drug discovery and development operations. The companies said the transferred positions will be associated with specific commitments of employment for five years and will continue to be based near Lyon.

Terms call for Sanofi to pay Evotec an initial, one-time, cash upfront payment of €60 million and provide “significant further long-term funding to ensure support and progression of the portfolio.”

The French drugmaker will retain certain option rights on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of anti-infective products and will continue to be involved in infectious disease through its vaccines research and development and its global health programs.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2018, subject to finalization of definitive agreements and completion of social dialog with employee representatives.

“Research in the field of anti-infectives is an area where building critical mass through partnering is particularly important, said Elias Zerhouni, president of Sanofi’s global R&D.