Rochester, New
York, USA and Mechelen, Belgium; 10 April 2008 - Bausch
& Lomb, the eye health company, and Galapagos NV (Euronext:
GLPG), a drug discovery company, announced today that they
have entered into a collaborative research agreement. Bausch
& Lomb will have the exclusive option to license select
Galapagos compounds as development candidates for therapeutic
uses in ophthalmic diseases.
“The agreement provides
access to a group of compounds that may have excellent development
candidate potential,” said Praveen Tyle, Ph.D., Chief
Scientific Officer, Bausch & Lomb. “The small
molecule compounds under evaluation have very attractive
in vitro and in vivo profiles. Our intent is to develop
these compounds as unique therapies, tapping our research
expertise in ophthalmic diseases.”
“We are pleased to
partner with Bausch & Lomb, a leader in the development
of treatments for eye diseases. Our collaboration with Bausch
& Lomb gives us the opportunity to leverage select compounds
in a therapeutic area that we would not otherwise pursue,”
said Onno van de Stolpe, Chief Executive Officer of Galapagos.
Bausch & Lomb is responsible
for the preclinical and clinical development of the select
compounds for use in ophthalmic diseases. Under the terms
of the collaboration, Galapagos will receive an upfront
payment of US$400,000 and may receive research funding to
support Bausch & Lomb’s further development of
the compounds for ophthalmic uses, plus future milestone
payments. Pending successful development and commercialization
under the license, potential total value of the payments
exceeds US$50 million, plus royalties on the commercial
sale of licensed products.
Contact
Mike McDougall, APR
Director, Corporate Communications, Bausch & Lomb
Tel: +1 585 338 5469
mmcdougall@bausch.com
Onno van de Stolpe
CEO, Galapagos NV
Tel: +31 6 2909 8028
ir@glpg.com
About Bausch & Lomb
Bausch & Lomb is the eye health company dedicated to
perfecting vision and enhancing life for consumers around
the world. Its core businesses include soft and rigid gas
permeable contact lenses and lens care products, and ophthalmic
surgical and pharmaceutical products. The Bausch & Lomb
name is one of the best known and most respected healthcare
brands in the world. Founded in 1853, the Company is headquartered
in Rochester, N.Y., and employs approximately 13,000 people
worldwide. Its products are available in more than 100 countries.
More information about the Company can be found at www.bausch.com.
About Galapagos
Galapagos (Euronext Brussels: GLPG; Euronext Amsterdam:
GLPGA; OTC: GLPYY) is a drug discovery company with pre-clinical
programs in bone and joint diseases and bone metastasis.
Its BioFocus DPI division 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 450 people and operates facilities
in six 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.
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.
