Galapagos CEO increases shareholding

Mechelen, Belgium; 7 December 2009 – Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG) announced today a capital increase of €902,564 and the issue of 225,641 new shares as a result of the exercise of warrants by Galapagos warrant holders, including CEO Onno van de Stolpe.  Mr. van de Stolpe obtained 210,766 new shares as a result of the exercise of warrants and now holds 290,976 shares in Galapagos, representing 1.23% of total outstanding shares.
 
Since its inception in 1999, Galapagos has used warrant plans as an incentive and to allow personnel and management to be involved in the Company’s growth and development.  The warrants exercised were granted in March 2002 and April 2003 under the Warrant Plan Belgium 2002 with a warrant exercise price of €4.00 to obtain one share and a life time of 8 years.  The warrants granted in March 2002 will expire in March 2010 and the last window during which they could be exercised was the window that ended on 30 November 2009.  In September 2009 Mr. van de Stolpe committed to making use of this last possible window to exercise all warrants granted to him in March 2002.  Mr. van de Stolpe still holds all Galapagos shares that he has acquired through the market and warrant exercises.
 
With this capital increase, Galapagos now has 23,610,820 shares outstanding and a share capital of €127,723,203.20.
 
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
Elizabeth Goodwin, Director Investor Relations
Tel: +31 62 291 6240
 
This release may contain forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements containing the words “believes,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “stands to,” and “continues,” as well as similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which might cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of Galapagos, or industry results, to be materially different from any historic or future results, financial conditions, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Given these uncertainties, the reader is advised not to place any undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of publication of this document. Galapagos expressly disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements in this document to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, unless required by law or regulation.