Strategic alliance with Gilead

Bringing innovation faster to patients, together

By forming strategic alliances with pharmaceutical companies, we gain access to critical resources, expertise, and global reach, to accelerate the development and potential commercialization of our innovations and bring life-changing therapies to patients faster.

Global research and development collaboration

On 14 July 2019, Galapagos and Gilead Sciences, Inc. and its affiliated companies (hereinafter “Gilead”) announced that we entered into a 10-year global research and development collaboration. In the context of the transaction, Gilead also made an equity investment in Galapagos. We also amended and restated the license agreement for filgotinib that we originally entered into with Gilead on 16 December 2015.

On 23 August 2019, the closing of the transaction took place and we received an upfront payment of €3,569.8 million ($3.95 billion) and a €960.1 million ($1.1 billion) equity investment from Gilead. On 15 December 2020 and on 30 October 2023, we and Gilead announced that we agreed to amend our existing arrangement for the commercialization and development of filgotinib again.

Under the R&D collaboration, Galapagos will fund and lead all discovery and development autonomously until the end of Phase 2. After the completion of a qualifying Phase 2 study (or, in certain circumstances, the first Phase 3 study), Gilead will have the option to acquire a license to the compound outside Europe. If the option is exercised, we and Gilead will co-develop the compound and share costs equally. Gilead will maintain option rights to our programs through the 10-year term of the collaboration. This term can be extended, at the discretion of Gilead, for up to an additional three years thereafter for those programs, if any, that have entered clinical development prior to the end of the collaboration term. On top, a final term extension can be granted in certain circumstances.

For all programs resulting from the collaboration (other than GLPG1972 and GLPG1690), Gilead will make a $150 million opt-in payment per program and will owe no subsequent milestones. Galapagos will receive tiered royalties ranging from 20 – 24% on net sales of all our products licensed by Gilead in countries outside Europe as part of the agreement. For GLPG1972, Gilead declined to exercise its option under the collaboration agreement in November 2020. In February 2021, the development of GLPG1690 (ziritaxestat) was discontinued.

Growing with Gilead