Mechelen, Belgium;
7 July 2009 – Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG) announced
today that it has successfully identified a second pre-clinical
candidate compound in its osteoarthritis alliance with GlaxoSmithKline
(GSK). Galapagos also reached a milestone on another compound
in the alliance. Together these milestones trigger payments
totaling €5.2 million to Galapagos.
This pre-clinical candidate
is a small molecule that meets all the chemical and biological
criteria set by GSK for a potential new medicine. The candidate
was developed by Galapagos against a novel target discovered
with Galapagos' proprietary platform. The molecule is now
ready for scale up chemistry and comprehensive safety evaluation,
with the goal of entering Phase I clinical research in 2010.
“Six months after
announcing our first pre-clinical candidate in this alliance,
we are pleased to announce the delivery of a second candidate
drug,” said Onno van de Stolpe, Chief Executive Officer
of Galapagos. “This achievement illustrates that Galapagos
is successfully progressing multiple programs across each
alliance, thereby increasing the likelihood of producing
novel, disease-modifying therapeutics.”
About the osteoarthritis
alliance
In June 2006, GSK and Galapagos initiated a program to discover
and develop disease-modifying medicines for GSK’s
global R&D organization. Through the agreement, Galapagos
broadened its drug discovery portfolio in the field of osteoarthritis,
with the aim of developing new candidates through to Proof
of Concept in Phase IIa. After this point, GSK has exclusive
options to further develop and commercialize these compounds
on a worldwide basis. In July 2007, GSK and Galapagos signed
an expansion to include two selected GSK targets and in
December 2008, the companies further broadened the scope
of the alliance through the inclusion of two more drug targets.
In its osteoarthritis program
with GSK, Galapagos has identified a number of novel targets
that have been validated in cellular disease models and
these have progressed into drug discovery. In less than
three years, Galapagos has advanced this program from target
validation to drug development, delivering two pre-clinical
candidate compounds. To date, Galapagos has earned more
than €30 million in payments from GSK under this alliance.
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
Onno van de Stolpe, CEO
Tel: +31 6 2909 8028
ir@glpg.com
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