Galapagos
announces osteoporosis collaboration with Lilly
Companies will
collaborate in development of novel class of medicines with
potential to stimulate bone formation for the treatment
of osteoporosis
Mechelen, Belgium; 19 December 2007 - Galapagos NV (Euronext
& LSE: GLPG) announced today that it has entered into
a global collaboration agreement with Eli Lilly and Company
(NYSE:LLY) to develop potential new medicines for the treatment
of osteoporosis.
Using its proprietary SilenceSelect™ and FLeXSelect™
platforms, Galapagos has discovered and validated novel
osteoporosis targets that may play a key role in bone formation.
The agreement provides Lilly access to 12 of these proprietary
osteoporosis targets and drug discovery programs to discover
candidate drugs. Galapagos will be responsible for the development
of drug candidates potentially through to phase IIa clinical
Proof of Concept. Under the terms of the agreement, Lilly
will have the exclusive option to further develop and commercialize
these candidates on a worldwide basis. Galapagos will have
the right to further develop and commercialize compounds
for which Lilly does not exercise its option.
Galapagos will receive a €3 million upfront payment
from Lilly. Contingent on achieving certain milestones,
Galapagos is eligible for each target program to receive
up to €88 million in discovery, development and regulatory
milestones. Should a product be commercialized, Galapagos
could receive up to €130 million of one-time sales
milestones and up to double-digit royalties on worldwide
sales of alliance products.
“We are very pleased that Lilly, a global leader in
the development of osteoporosis drugs, has acknowledged
the potential of our drug discovery platform," said
Onno van de Stolpe, Galapagos’ CEO. "This alliance
with Lilly fits our strategy to maximize the value of our
technology by forming risk/reward sharing deals with top-tier
pharmaceutical companies. This represents the third major
alliance that Galapagos has entered into to develop medicines
to treat large underserved markets in bone and joint disease.
Our drug discovery teams will now prosecute over 40 novel
targets in programs that are largely partnered with major
pharma companies, and are already reaching important milestones.”
“This is an important
collaboration for Lilly in the field of osteoporosis, and
leverages our own internal expertise with Evista®, Forteo®
and arzoxifene. The targets that Galapagos has discovered
provide an excellent basis for the potential development
of innovative drugs with bone forming properties,”
said Dr. William W. Chin, M.D., vice president of discovery
research and clinical investigation for Lilly. “Combining
our osteoporosis experience with Galapagos’ drug discovery
capabilities in this risk sharing alliance will hopefully
accelerate the development of promising compounds.”
Galapagos R&D in osteoporosis
Galapagos is a drug discovery company with pre-clinical
programs in bone and joint diseases. In osteoporosis, the
Company executes multiple programs, including those acquired
through the ProSkelia acquisition as well as the internal
target discovery program that forms the basis for today’s
alliance.
About osteoporosis
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.
Galapagos webcast
& press conference
Galapagos will host an audio webcast press conference starting
at 10.30 Central European Time (CET) today at SNS Securities,
Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 162, 1012 SJ, Amsterdam. To participate
in the conference remotely by telephone, dial +32 2290 1608
prior to 10.25 CET. The live audio webcast of the press
conference can be accessed on the Galapagos website at www.glpg.com.
About Galapagos
Galapagos (Euronext Brussels, GLPG; Euronext Amsterdam,
GLPGA; London AiM: GLPG) is a drug discovery company with
pre-clinical programs in bone and joint diseases and cachexia.
Its division BioFocus DPI offers a full suite of target-to-drug
discovery products and services to pharmaceutical and biotech
companies, encompassing target discovery and validation,
screening and drug discovery through to delivery of pre-clinical
candidates. BioFocus DPI also provides adenoviral reagents
for rapid identification and validation of novel drug targets,
compound libraries for drug screening as well as chemogenomics
and ADMET database products to select targets and compounds.
Galapagos currently employs 460 people and operates facilities
in seven countries, with global headquarters in Mechelen,
Belgium. More information about Galapagos and BioFocus DPI
can be found at www.glpg.com
and www.biofocusdpi.com.
CONTACT
Galapagos
NV
Onno van de Stolpe, CEO
Tel: +31 6 2909 8028
ir@glpg.com
This
release may contain forward-looking statements, including,
without limitation, statements containing the words “believes,”
“anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,”
“plans,” “seeks,” “estimates,”
“may,” “will,” “could,”
“stands to,” and “continues,” as
well as similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements
may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors which might cause the actual results, financial
condition, performance or achievements of Galapagos, or
industry results, to be materially different from any historic
or future results, financial conditions, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. Given these uncertainties, the reader is advised
not to place any undue reliance on such forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements speak only
as of the date of publication of this document. Galapagos
expressly disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking
statements in this document to reflect any change in its
expectations with regard thereto or any change in events,
conditions or circumstances on which any such statement
is based, unless required by law or regulation.
