Our
partnering strategy is to establish collaborations with
major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to support
development of internal programs through milestone payments
and downstream royalties.
Eli
Lilly
In December 2007, Galapagos signed a global collaboration
agreement with Eli Lilly to discover and develop new medicines
for the treatment of osteoporosis. The agreement provides
Lilly access to 12 of Galapagos’ proprietary osteoporosis
targets and drug discovery programs. Galapagos will be responsible
for the development of drug candidates through to Phase
IIa clinical Proof of Concept.
GlaxoSmithKline
June 2006, Galapagos signed a broad alliance with GSK to
discover and develop breakthrough medicines in osteoarthritis.
This multi-target, multi-year alliance runs from target
discovery through to delivery of a clinical proof of concept.
In June 2007, the scope of the alliance was expanded to
include up to two drug discovery programs on selected GSK
drug targets. In December 2008, Galapagos announced that
the alliance was further expanded to include two additional
drug targets. In December 2009, the alliance was again expanded
to include additional drug discovery programs based on novel
drug target GT622. Based on these expansions, the alliance
is now worth more than €200 million in milestones,
plus up to double-digit royalties.
In
December 2007, GSK and Galapagos entered a strategic alliance
to develop novel antibacterial and antiviral therapeutics.
Galapagos is responsible for the discovery and development
of natural product small molecule drug candidates through
to clinical Proof of Concept, at which point GSK will have
exclusive option to license each compound for further development
and commercialization on a worldwide basis. The alliance
utilizes the natural product compound collection and chemistry
capabilities of BioFocus DPI, Galapagos’ services
division. In January 2009, the alliance in antibacterials
and antivirals was expanded to include three more discovery
targets.
Janssen
Pharmaceutica
In October 2007, Galapagos announced a multi-target alliance
with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, a Johnson & Johnson company,
to discover and develop novel small-molecule therapeutics
for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Galapagos is
responsible for the discovery and development of drug candidates
through to clinical Proof of Concept, at which point Janssen
will have an exclusive option to license each compound for
further development and commercialization on a worldwide
basis.
Merck
& Co
In January 2009, Galapagos announced that it entered into
a multi-year global strategic alliance with Merck &
Co., Inc. to develop potential new therapies in obesity
and diabetes. Galapagos will be responsible for the discovery
and pre-clinical development of new small molecule candidate
drugs based on novel Galapagos targets. Merck will have
the exclusive option to license each candidate for clinical
development and commercialization on a worldwide basis.
Galapagos received a €1.5 million upfront fee from
Merck, and is eligible to receive milestones that could
potentially exceed €170 million. In October 2009 this
alliance was expanded to include development of new therapies
for atherosclerosis. Based on the terms of the expanded
alliance, Galapagos is eligible to receive research, regulatory
and sales milestone payments that may total in excess of
€400 million as well as royalties upon commercialization
of any products covered under the agreement.
In April 2009, Galapagos announced that it entered into
a second strategic alliance with Merck & Co., this time
to develop potential new therapies in inflammation. Under
the terms of this agreement, Galapagos will receive an upfront
fee of €2.5 million from Merck. In addition, Galapagos
is eligible to receive discovery, development and regulatory
milestone payments that could potentially exceed €192
million total for multiple products, as well as specific
sales milestones and royalties upon commercialization of
any products covered under the agreement.
MorphoSys
In
November 2008, Galapagos and MorphoSys initiated an alliance
to co-develop novel therapeutic antibodies in bone &
joint disease. The partners combine their proprietary drug
targets and unique technologies to discover and develop
antibody therapies based on novel modes of action in bone
& joint disease, including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis
and osteoarthritis. Both companies will share the research
and development costs, as well as all future revenues equally.
Antibodies with high specificity towards the first target
have been generated and are now being tested in disease-specific
experiments. In parallel, Galapagos has applied its target
discovery platform to identify additional targets for antibody
development. Based on the solid progress made so far, the
partners added another antibody target to the alliance in
February 2010, thereby increasing the total number of programs
to four.
Roche
Galapagos and Roche started their strategic alliance in
COPD (chronic lung disease) in January 2010 and further
expanded the alliance in May 2010. Galapagos is applying
its target discovery platform to discover novel COPD targets
and is responsible for the discovery and development of
new small molecule candidate drugs against these targets.
Roche has an exclusive option to license each small molecule
program after either clinical candidate selection or completion
of Phase I clinical trials. In addition, Roche has an exclusive
option to license the COPD targets for the discovery and
development of antibodies, peptides, siRNAs and other nucleic
acids against these targets. Galapagos received a research
access payment of €6 million from Roche and, through
the alliance expansion, is eligible to receive discovery,
development, regulatory and sales milestone payments that
could potentially exceed €550 million, plus royalties
upon commercialization of any products covered in the agreement.
Servier
Galapagos and Servier initiated their strategic alliance
to develop new therapies in osteoarthritis (OA) in July
2010. The alliance builds on novel OA drug targets discovered
by Galapagos through its proprietary platform. Galapagos
is responsible for the discovery and development of new
small molecule candidate drugs against these targets, some
of which are in the advanced stages of drug discovery. Servier
will have an exclusive option to license each small molecule
program after the completion of Phase I clinical trials
by Galapagos. Upon exercise of each option, Servier will
be responsible for the further clinical development, registration
and commercialization. For any marketed products, Galapagos
retains exclusive U.S. commercialization rights. Under the
terms of the agreement, Galapagos will receive research
access payments of €7 million from Servier. Galapagos
is also eligible to receive discovery, development, regulatory
and other milestone payments that could reach €290
million, plus royalties upon commercialization of products
outside the U.S. covered under the agreement.
Related publications
Sustainable
drug discovery: Galapagos' alliance strategy
Hoekema, A
Pharma Focus Asia 2008,8:14-17
