| Wyeth
Pharmaceuticals and Galapagos form Discovery Alliance in Osteoporosis
Mechelen,
Belgium, November 13, 2003 –Galapagos Genomics today announced
that it has entered into a discovery alliance in the field of osteoporosis
with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, the pharmaceutical division of Wyeth
(NYSE: WYE). Within the alliance, Galapagos will use its osteoporosis
disease expertise in combination with its SilenceSelectTM
gene knock-down platform to discover and validate novel drug targets
that drive bone formation. Under the terms of the agreement, Wyeth
has obtained the exclusive option to license the targets for the
development of osteoporosis drugs. In return, Galapagos will receive
an upfront payment and research funding, and is eligible for certain
licensing, development and commercialization milestones that could
amount to over $40 million of income to Galapagos.
“This
discovery alliance with one of the largest players in the osteoporosis
field is an important milestone for the Company. We are looking
forward to working with Wyeth and we are confident that we will
deliver novel drug targets into their compound screening programs
within months,” said Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos.
“This agreement underlines the value of the SilenceSelect
platform as an important tool to discover novel drug targets, and
it establishes the strength of our discovery biology research team
in osteoporosis”.
Disease background
Osteoporosis is principally a disease of middle age during which
hormone levels essential for maintaining bone density decline. The
development of osteoporosis is characterized by a clinically significant
reduction in mean bone density due to an increase in bone resorption.
The disease is four times as common in women than men. The enormous
health care costs associated with osteoporosis, estimated at $15
billion in the USA, are related to the greatly increased incidence
of fractures in osteoporosis patients. Whereas most current therapies
have an anti-resorptive mechanism of action, agents with bone-forming
properties can be identified for future therapies by identifying
targets and molecules with anabolic functions and actions.
About
Galapagos Genomics
Galapagos Genomics is a discovery company focused on the rapid identification
and validation of disease modifying drug targets by functional screening
in human disease models. The research activities encompass the internal
programs in osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and
Alzheimer's disease, as well as numerous partnerships with leading
pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and biotech companies. Proprietary
targets resulting from our internal programs are used for the development
of drugs in our core disease areas, combined with selected out-licensing
and partnering of projects during development. The Company currently
employs 90 people, including 22 PhD's, and occupies a 2000 sq.m.
research and production facility in Mechelen, with additional research
laboratories in Leiden, The Netherlands. Galapagos’ other
partners include Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Euroscreen, Exelixis,
Incyte, Johnson&Johnson, Organon, Pfizer, Procter&Gamble,
UCB Pharma and Vertex. Galapagos was founded in 1999 by Crucell
(Nasdaq, Euronext: CRXL) and Tibotec to exploit Crucell's unique
PER.C6TM technology for target discovery. The shareholders
are Abingworth Management, Apax Partners, Burrill&Company, NIB
Capital Private Equity, Crucell Holland BV and Tibotec-Virco NV.
More information on Galapagos can be found at the website www.galapagosgenomics.com.
SilenceSelect is a pending trademark owned by Galapagos Genomics
NV.
Galapagos Genomics
Onno van de Stolpe, CEO
+31 6290 980 28
onno@galapagos.be
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