Mechelen, Belgium; 7 October 2009 – Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG) announced today that it has reached the first milestone in its antibacterials and antivirals alliance with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). For achieving this milestone, Galapagos receives a €500,000 cash payment from GSK. To date, Galapagos has earned €4 million in payments from GSK under this alliance.
In December 2007, GSK and Galapagos initiated a program to discover and develop novel anti-infective drug candidates for GSK’s Infectious Diseases Centre of Excellence in Drug Discovery (ID CEDD). The scope of the alliance was broadened in January 2009 to include three additional GSK targets. Galapagos is responsible for the discovery and development of drug candidates through to clinical Proof of Concept, at which point GSK will have exclusive option to license each compound for further development and commercialization on a worldwide basis.
Under the terms of the alliance, Galapagos could be eligible to receive up to €95 million in upfront fees, development and regulatory milestones payments for a product candidate. If a product is commercialized, Galapagos may receive up to €120 million for achievement of specific sales milestones. Galapagos is also eligible to receive up to double-digit royalties on worldwide sales of alliance products.
“Our discovery platform has delivered novel chemistry against GSK’s viral and bacterial targets and we are in the process of further optimizing these molecules,” said Onno van de Stolpe, Chief Executive Officer of Galapagos. “We remain on-track to deliver Phase IIa clinical candidates to GSK that offer new treatment prospects for a broad range of infectious diseases.”
About infectious diseases
Infectious diseases are caused by pathogenic micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi. The diseases can be spread, directly or indirectly, from one person to another[1]. Infectious diseases are a leading cause of death worldwide. Existing therapies against infectious diseases account for an estimated €45 billion in annual global sales[2]. The need for new therapies is on the rise due to increasing resistance of micro-organisms to available therapies.
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 and Co. Through an alliance with MorphoSys, Galapagos is also developing new antibody therapies in bone and joint diseases. Its division BioFocus 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 495 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
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