With this agreement, Upstate will be able to fill the demand for adenoviral reagents as research tools in drug discovery. Life science researchers at universities, biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms are continuously in search of the best tools for drug discovery research, and Galapagos’ proprietary adenovirus technology forms the basis of a product line with reagents to increase or decrease specific human proteins in human cellular assays. This technology has proven to be the method of choice for target discovery by many pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and has led to the identification of novel drug targets in many disease areas. Hallmarks of the adenovirus technology are the stability of the knock-in and knock-down protein levels, and the suitability for high-throughput assays using human primary cells. These features should allow the adenovirus technology to compete effectively in the global market for siRNA reagents, projected by industry experts to grow to $ 270 million in 2008. Galapagos retains rights to continue servicing its existing customers for these products.
“Galapagos has been successful in marketing its adenoviral based products with pharma and biotech. Through the alliance with Upstate, a much larger customer base will be addressed, including the vast academic research market that is well served by Upstate’s marketing and sales organisation,” said Onno van de Stolpe, Chief Executive Officer of Galapagos. “We are confident that Upstate will exploit fully the unique selling points of our siRNA based adenoviral reagents and greatly increase its visibility and use by researchers worldwide.”
About Galapagos
Galapagos is a publicly traded, genomics-based drug discovery company (Euronext Brussels, GLPG; Euronext Amsterdam, GLPGA, London AiM: GLPG) that has drug discovery programs based on proprietary, novel targets in bone and joint diseases – osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Galapagos offers a full suite of target-to-drug discovery products and services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies through its division BioFocus, encompassing target discovery and validation, and drug discovery services through to delivery of pre-clinical candidates. In addition, BioFocus provides adenoviral reagents for rapid identification and validation of novel drug targets and compound libraries for screening. Galapagos currently employs more than 210 people, including 80 PhDs, and occupies facilities in Mechelen, Belgium, Saffron Walden, UK and Leiden, The Netherlands. Partners of Galapagos include Amgen, AstraZeneca, BASF, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, GlaxoSmithKline, Idenix, Novartis, Organon, Roche, Serono, Vertex, and Wyeth. More information about Galapagos and BioFocus can be found at www.glpg.com.