(Bloomberg) -- Germany’s Evotec SE is attracting potential takeover interest from Nasdaq-listed biotech firm Halozyme Therapeutics Inc., people familiar with the matter said. 

Halozyme has recently expressed interest in acquiring Evotec at about €11 per share, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. That would represent a roughly 27% premium to Evotec’s closing price on Thursday and would value the German drug developer at nearly €2 billion ($2.1 billion).

Evotec’s American depositary receipts rose as much as 19% Thursday and were up 12% at 2:59 p.m. in New York, giving the company a market value of $1.8 billion. San Diego, California-based Halozyme’s shares, after falling as much as 7.3%, were down 5.3%, giving it a market value of about $7 billion.

Considerations are at an early stage and there’s no certainty they will lead to a deal. A representative for Halozyme declined to comment, while a spokesperson for Evotec didn’t have an immediate comment.

Shares of Evotec have fallen about 59% this year, bucking the 15% gain in Germany’s benchmark DAX index. Private equity firm Triton Partners recently revealed it has built up a stake in Evotec and has been considering a takeover bid, Bloomberg News has reported.

Evotec develops drug discovery programs with biotech and pharmaceutical companies in areas including cardiovascular disease, oncology and immunology.

Chief Executive Officer Christian Wojczewski, who took his position at Evotec in July, said in an earnings call this month that his job is to rebuild trust and provide clarity and reliability for investors. The previous CEO Werner Lanthaler stepped down for personal reasons. The company later said Lanthaler had failed to report stock trades on time, adding the lapse was unrelated to his exit. 

--With assistance from Michael Hytha.

(Updates with Evotec ADRs in third paragraph.)

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