MECHELEN, BELGIUM and HARLOW, UK--(Marketwire - October 04, 2010) -
· Galapagos' affiliate, Argenta, to
develop candidate drugs based on multiple oncology targets
· Largest deal so far for Argenta
· Initial phase includes research
funding and success-based milestones over five years
· Option to further extend to 15
oncology target programs
Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG)
announced today that its affiliate, Argenta Discovery 2009 Limited, has
entered
into a drug discovery service agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica
N.V.
(Janssen), aimed at delivering novel cancer drug candidates. Argenta
will
provide medicinal chemistry and biology for a number of Janssen
oncology
targets. The total contract value for Galapagos for the initial phase
of the
collaboration could exceed EUR33.5 M over a five-year period
pending the
achievement of certain milestones.
This fully integrated drug discovery service agreement calls for
Argenta to
perform hit-to-lead and lead optimization for a number of Janssen
oncology
targets, and also activities up to pre-clinical candidate selection.
Janssen
retains the option to extend the services beyond the initial set of
targets, up
to a total of 15 targets.
"We are seeing an increased demand for longer term, integrated deals
in our
services business, which access a variety of our drug discovery
capabilities and
with Argenta's strong track record of delivering on integrated drug
discovery
programs, we are well positioned to meet this growing need," said Onno
van de
Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos.
About Argenta
Argenta's contract research, which includes expertise in medicinal
chemistry,
computer-aided drug discovery,in vitro biology, analytics, in
vivo
pharmacokinetics, pharmacology and world-leading respiratory models,
has a
strong reputation for scientific excellence. Argenta was acquired by
Galapagos
in February 2010 and employs over 140 people in the UK with its main
operations
in Harlow. More info at: www.argentadiscovery.com
About Galapagos
Galapagos (Euronext: GLPG; OTC: GLPYY) is a mid-size biotechnology
company
specialized in the discovery and development of small molecule and
antibody
therapies with novel modes-of-action. The Company is progressing one
of the
largest pipelines in biotech, with six clinical and over 50 small
molecule
discovery/pre-clinical programs. Through risk/reward-sharing alliances
with
GlaxoSmithKline, Lilly, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Merck & Co., Roche and
Servier,
Galapagos is eligible to receive up to EUR3.3 billion in downstream
milestones,
plus royalties. Following the recent acquisition of the Zagreb research
center,
the Galapagos Group now has over 800 employees and operates facilities in
seven
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
ir@glpg.com
Elizabeth Goodwin, Director Investor Relations
Tel: +31 6 2291 6240
ir@glpg.com
This release may contain forward-looking statements, including,
without
limitation, statements containing the words "believes,"
"anticipates,"
"expects," "intends," "plans," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will,"
"could,"
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obligation to update any such forward-looking statements in this
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