An R&D collaboration between France-based drugmaker Sanofi and German drug delivery specialist Evotec, announced on Dec. 2, foresees the transfer of the French company's site at Toulouse as well as on-site research and development jobs and activities to its German partner.

The deal expected to be signed in the first half of 2015 will cost Sanofi €250 million euros over five years, money that would fund future research projects matching the Evotec portfolio. Evotec would guarantee the related jobs and current levels up to 2019.

Under the plan, Sanofi's activities in research in tumor environment would be combined with Evotec's EVT Innovative segment. Teams dedicated to technological services activities, from identification and validation of new target therapies to discovery and validation of new drug candidates, would be integrated into Evotec's EVT Execute segment.

Also as part of the collaboration agreement, the French and German companies would both work on the discovery of new drug candidates in oncology and other fields and support scientific collaborations with academic institutions in France. Along with know-how, Evotec would contribute existing collaborations and research contracts with other pharmaceutical producers.

To support the Toulouse site's "scientific and technological mission," Sanofi said it intends to entrust Evotec with research assignments over the next five years. The German company would also gain access to the site's chemical library with an estimated 1.7 million compounds.

The Evotec deal will ensure the success and sustainability of the activities at Toulouse, said Sanofi's global research chief Elias Zerhouni. It also may help to allay investor concerns that Sanofi is too heavily dependent on France, following the October ouster of German-Canadian CEO Chris Viehbacher, the news agency Reuters said.

The fate of the research center has hanging in the balance for some time. In 2012, under pressure from the newly elected Socialist government, the drugmaker scaled down a restructuring plan, cutting 900 jobs rather than the 2,500 previously targeted. In 2013, it agreed to keep the center operating until 2018.

France accounts for just 85 percent of Sanofi's revenue but close to half of its research staff.