On Oct. 19, 2020, Evotec announced that its Seattle-based subsidiary, Just – Evotec Biologics had received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Seattle, WA) as part of the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator to enable the development and production of monoclonal antibody candidates for the prevention of severe COVID-19 in vulnerable populations in low and middle income countries.

Under the grant, Just – Evotec Biologics used its proprietary software toolset Abacus™ to perform an in silico analysis of several lead candidate sequences of potent anti-SARS-CoV-2 mAbs provided to the foundation by several leading academic medical centres around the world. Abacus™ analysis identified key sequences that can impact developability and, if required, make recommendations to optimise the anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody candidates. In addition, Just – Evotec Biologics performed cell line development for two lead molecules.