Galapagos delivers second pre-clinical candidate in alliance with
GlaxoSmithKline and receives ¤5.2 million in milestone payments
Mechelen, Belgium; 7 July 2009 - Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG)
announced today that it has successfully identified a second
pre-clinical candidate compound in its osteoarthritis alliance with
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Galapagos also reached a milestone on another
compound in the alliance. Together these milestones trigger payments
totaling ¤5.2 million to Galapagos.
This pre-clinical candidate is a small molecule that meets all the
chemical and biological criteria set by GSK for a potential new
medicine. The candidate was developed by Galapagos against a novel
target discovered with Galapagos' proprietary platform. The molecule
is now ready for scale up chemistry and comprehensive safety
evaluation, with the goal of entering Phase I clinical research in
2010.
"Six months after announcing our first pre-clinical candidate in this
alliance, we are pleased to announce the delivery of a second
candidate drug," said Onno van de Stolpe, Chief Executive Officer of
Galapagos. "This achievement illustrates that Galapagos is
successfully progressing multiple programs across each alliance,
thereby increasing the likelihood of producing novel,
disease-modifying therapeutics."
About the osteoarthritis alliance
In June 2006, GSK and Galapagos initiated a program to discover and
develop disease-modifying medicines for GSK's global R&D
organization. Through the agreement, Galapagos broadened its drug
discovery portfolio in the field of osteoarthritis, with the aim of
developing new candidates through to Proof of Concept in Phase IIa.
After this point, GSK has exclusive options to further develop and
commercialize these compounds on a worldwide basis. In July 2007,
GSK and Galapagos signed an expansion to include two selected GSK
targets and in December 2008, the companies further broadened the
scope of the alliance through the inclusion of two more drug targets.
In its osteoarthritis program with GSK, Galapagos has identified a
number of novel targets that have been validated in cellular disease
models and these have progressed into drug discovery. In less than
three years, Galapagos has advanced this program from target
validation to drug development, delivering two pre-clinical candidate
compounds. To date, Galapagos has earned more than ¤30 million in
payments from GSK under this alliance.
About Galapagos
Galapagos (Euronext: GLPG; OTC: GLPYY) is a drug discovery and
development company with small molecule programs in bone and joint
diseases, bone metastasis, cachexia, anti-infectives and metabolic
diseases. It has established risk sharing alliances with GSK,
Janssen Pharmaceutica, Eli Lilly and Merck. Through an alliance with
MorphoSys, Galapagos is also developing new antibody therapies in
bone and joint diseases. Its division BioFocus DPI offers a full
suite of target-to-drug discovery products and services to
pharmaceutical and biotech companies and to patient foundations,
encompassing target discovery and validation, screening and drug
discovery through to delivery of pre-clinical candidates. Galapagos
currently employs 490 people and operates facilities in six
countries, with global headquarters in Mechelen, Belgium. More info
at: www.glpg.com.
CONTACT
Galapagos NV
Onno van de Stolpe, CEO
Tel: +31 6 2909 8028
ir@glpg.com
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