Evotec says it promptly reported share trades withheld by former CEO

By Ludwig Burger and Alexander Hübner

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -German biotech firm Evotec on Monday said it had immediately reported trades in its shares by its former CEO as soon as it was informed of the transactions that he had kept under wraps for up to three years.

"Evotec has acted always in compliance with the statutory regulations and our own very strict compliance code," supervisory board Chair Iris Loew Friedrich said in an analyst call.

She added that the former CEO had "clearly" not been in compliance with the company's established procedures.

Evotec, which works in drug development with partners including Novo Nordisk, Bayer and Bristol-Myers Squibb , said on Jan. 3 that CEO Werner Lanthaler would resign for personal reasons after almost 15 years with the company.

According to Reuters calculations based on regulatory filings, Lanthaler had purchased Evotec shares for about 4.8 million euros ($5.23 million) between 2021 and 2023, while selling shares for a total of 7 million euros.

German insider trading regulation gives executives three days to report share trades involving their company.

($1 = 0.9179 euros)

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Alexander HuebnerEditing by Miranda Murray)