SAFFRON WALDEN & HARLOW, England & MÖLNDAL, Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Galapagos’ service companies, BioFocus and Argenta, today announced they have entered into a multi-year collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca to find new compounds against key targets of interest to AstraZeneca’s research programs in respiratory and inflammatory diseases.
Under the terms of the collaboration, each AstraZeneca project will engage the medicinal chemistry, biology and ADME/PK capabilities of either BioFocus or Argenta, and will also be able to access the full suite of in vivo respiratory pharmacology models which reside within Argenta.
Financial details were not disclosed.
“Both BioFocus and Argenta have worked extensively with AstraZeneca over the past 10 years, and this new collaborative agreement brings enormous capability and experience to each AstraZeneca project we work on. We are delighted to renew our new drug discovery alliance with one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical companies,” added Dr. Chris Newton, SVP Galapagos Services.
“We continue to be impressed by the strength of the BioFocus and Argenta technology platforms and the evident depth of experience of the scientists that will be engaged on our projects addressing respiratory and inflammatory conditions”, said Dr. John Steele, VP R&I Innovative Medicines Science Unit at AstraZeneca.
About BioFocus
BioFocus provides integrated drug discovery that delivers pre-clinical drug candidates in all therapeutic areas with strong capability in neurodegenerative diseases, inflammatory diseases and with a growing track record of delivering candidates against rare and neglected diseases.
BioFocus has advanced and comprehensive drug discovery capabilities that are applied to client projects to deliver targets, hits, leads and candidate pre-clinical drugs. The company employs 210 exceptionally qualified and industry experienced scientists at its three research centers in the UK, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
Since its foundation in 1997, BioFocus has striven to produce high quality data for its clients and this quality is assured by ISO9001 qualification validated by regular, independent inspection of all BioFocus research centers.
For more information visit www.biofocus.com
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 160 people in the UK with its main operations in Harlow. More info at: www.argentadiscovery.com
About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical business with a primary focus on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines for gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory and inflammation, oncology and infectious disease. AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide. For more information please visit: www.astrazeneca.com
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Contact:
Galapagos Services (BioFocus and Argenta)
Chris Newton
SVP Galapagos Services
E-mail: chris.newton@glpg.com
Tel: +44 (0)1799 533 500
or
Zyme Communications
Katie Odgaard
E-mail : katie.odgaard@zymecommunications.com
Tel : +44 (0)7787 502 947
