Galapagos achieves milestone payment in rheumatoid arthritis
alliance
Mechelen,
Belgium; 28 May 2009 – Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG)
announced today achievement of a milestone under its alliance
agreement in rheumatoid arthritis with Janssen Pharmaceutica
NV (‘Janssen’). The milestone triggered a cash
payment of €3.4 million to Galapagos.
In October
2007, Galapagos announced an alliance agreement with Janssen
providing Janssen with option rights to acquire worldwide,
commercial licenses to novel small molecules from up to
12 of Galapagos’ internal programs involving rheumatoid
arthritis therapeutic targets. The milestone announced today
is the result of one of these programs reaching the next
phase of medicinal chemistry optimization.
About Galapagos
Galapagos (Euronext:
GLPG; OTC: GLPYY) is a drug discovery and development company
with small molecule programs in bone and joint diseases,
bone metastasis, cachexia, anti-infectives and metabolic
diseases. It has established risk sharing alliances with
GSK, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Eli Lilly and Merck. Through
an alliance with MorphoSys, Galapagos is also developing
new antibody therapies in bone and joint diseases. Its division
BioFocus DPI offers a full suite of target-to-drug discovery
products and services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies
and to patient foundations, encompassing target discovery
and validation, screening and drug discovery through to
delivery of pre-clinical candidates. Galapagos currently
employs 490 people and operates facilities in six countries,
with global headquarters in Mechelen, Belgium. More info
at: www.glpg.com.
CONTACT
Galapagos NV
Graham Dixon, PhD
Senior Vice President Drug Discovery
+32 473 86 87 51
ir@glpg.com
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