Galapagos initiated Phase I clinical development of its novel mechanism of action, first-in-class candidate drug GLPG0259 for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in March 2009. GLPG0259 is the first small molecule from Galapagos’ target discovery platform to enter the clinic. GLPG0259 targets protein kinase MAPKAPK5, which represents a new approach for the treatment of RA. The US Patent Office has granted Galapagos patents on the use of this target for the discovery of RA drugs and on the chemical space around this candidate drug. For further details, refer to ‘Phase I initiation’ press release.

In October 2007, Galapagos entered into a worldwide multi-target alliance with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, a Johnson & Johnson company, to discover and develop novel small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of RA.

In April 2008, Galapagos in-licensed Nanocort®, a liposome formulation of prednisolone, for the treatment of acute rheumatoid arthritis flares and other inflammatory diseases. Nanocort completed a Phase I/II trial in 2008, which demonstrated safety and a good response in rheumatoid arthritis. Based on these results, Galapagos plans to initiate two Phase II studies for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis flares in the second half of 2009.