Drug discovery company Evotec has received £1.6m from German company Boehringer Ingelheim for successfully finding a potential cancer drug.

Chief operating officer Mario Polywka said: “This is the 11th milestone achieved as part of this alliance with Boehringer Ingelheim and the second against an oncology target.

“We continue to enjoy a very rich scientific partnership and look forward to continued success through our joint project teams.”

It also announced it will receive £4.3m from pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca to develop a potential treatment for diabetes.

German-owned Evotec, which has a laboratory at Milton Park, near Didcot, has signed a deal with MedImmune, the global biologics unit of AstraZeneca, to research the regeneration of insulin-producing beta cells.

As well as the upfront payment of £4.3m, if the diabetes research is successful, Evotec could earn milestone payments of up to £215m, plus royalties.

Chief scientific officer Dr Cord Dohrmann said early tests seemed promising. “The loss of insulin-producing beta cells is tightly linked to the development of diabetes."

He added: “MedImmune is a leader in biopharmaceutical research with cutting edge protein production and engineering capabilities and thus a perfect partner for Evotec.”