Mechelen, Belgium – Galapagos NV (Euronext & LSE: GLPG), an integrated drug discovery company, announces today that it has reached two significant milestones in its multi-year drug discovery alliance with GlaxoSmithKline in osteoarthritis, triggering payments of €3.2 million from GSK.
In June 2006, GSK’s Center of Excellence for External Drug Discovery (CEEDD) and Galapagos initiated a program to deliver disease-modifying drugs with clinical Proof of Concept to GSK’s global research and development organization. The aim of this agreement is for Galapagos to expand its portfolio of novel targets in the field of osteoarthritis, to conduct compound screening, identify tractable hits, pursue a number of hit-to-lead programs, and develop the resulting leads into candidate selection compounds through to a successful Proof of Concept in clinical research Phase IIa. GSK has exclusive options to further develop and commercialize these compounds on a worldwide basis. Galapagos will have the right to further develop and commercialize compounds for which GSK does not exercise its option. The alliance is worth up to €130 million in milestones for two marketable products to Galapagos, plus up to double-digit royalties on global product sales.
Today’s announcement marks the second and third milestone payments made to Galapagos since the start of the program. In January of this year, Galapagos announced the alliance’s first milestone, triggering a €400,000 payment from GSK.
“We are proud to have reached these significant milestones in the osteoarthritis program,” said Onno van de Stolpe, Chief Executive Officer of Galapagos. “Thanks to the alliance with GSK we have been able to staff the osteoarthritis program within Galapagos to a critical level and it is satisfying to see that our research efforts are delivering the progress that triggers these payments.”
About osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis, typically affecting people aged 45 and older. It is a degenerative disease characterized by joint destruction and loss of articular cartilage. Cartilage is the slippery tissue that covers the ends of bones in a joint. Healthy cartilage allows bones to glide over one another. It also absorbs energy from the shock of physical movement. In OA, the surface layer of cartilage breaks down and wears away. This allows bones under the cartilage to rub together, causing pain, swelling, and loss of motion of the joint. Over time, the joint may lose its normal shape. Also, bone spurs – small growths called osteophytes – may grow on the edges of the joint. Bits of bone or cartilage can break off and float inside the joint space. This causes more pain and damage.
No currently available treatments prevent OA or even reverse or block the disease process. Treatment of OA involves pain control, weight control, and exercise. Many OA patients have pain that persists despite these measures. Some of these patients use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that relieve the symptoms without changing the course of the underlying disease. Healthcare providers are concerned about long-term NSAID use due to serious possible side effects.
It is expected that with the aging of the population, more individuals will be prone to develop OA. As mobility of seniors is of high importance to maintaining a high quality of life, preventing the severity of OA is seen as an immense clinical need over the next decade.
About the CEEDD
GlaxoSmithKline is enhancing the way it discovers and develops drugs by creating a small dedicated team who will feed the GSK pipeline through the efforts of its external alliances. The CEEDD (Center of Excellence for External Drug Discovery) was formed as further validation of GSK’s strategy to create small, independent and accountable R&D teams (Centers of Excellence for Drug Discovery or CEDDs). In essence, the CEEDD will ‘virtualise’ a portion of the GSK pipeline; namely, from Target to Clinical PoC, by forming multiple risk-sharing/reward-sharing alliances. Capitalising on the speed and efficiency of its external alliances will allow GSK to deliver pharmaceuticals products faster to patients.
About GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline – one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.
About Galapagos
Galapagos (Euronext Brussels, GLPG; Euronext Amsterdam, GLPGA; London AiM: GLPG) is a drug discovery company with clinical and pre-clinical programs in bone and joint diseases, cachexia, and menopausal hot flashes. Its division BioFocus DPI 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[1] database products to select targets and compounds. Galapagos currently employs 450 people and operates facilities in eight countries, with global headquarters in Mechelen, Belgium. More information about Galapagos and BioFocus DPI can be found at www.glpg.com.
CONTACT
Galapagos NV
Onno van de Stolpe, CEO
Tel: +31 6 2909 8028
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[1] ADMET is the acronym for Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, Excretion and Toxicity: Meeting parameters against these five criteria is critical to the success of a pharmaceutical compound as a drug.