Mechelen, Belgium; 8 April 2010 - Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG) announced today a €2.1 million capital increase arising from employee warrant exercises as well as recent share purchases by senior management. Furthermore, Galapagos announced the licensing of a compound for ophthalmic disease to Bausch & Lomb.
Share capital increase
Since its inception in 1999, Galapagos has used warrant plans to incentivize personnel and management and have them share in the success of the company. Following warrant exercises during the exercise period in March 2010, Galapagos issued 239,058 new ordinary shares on 7 April 2010 for a total capital increase of €2,057,465.91, or an average of €8.61 per new share. No member of the Executive Committee exercised warrants. Board member Ferdinand Verdonck exercised warrants for 10,000 shares at €6.76 per share, with the intention to hold the shares.
Management shareholding increases
Galapagos management have filed individual share purchases made on Euronext since 5 March 2010. Onno van de Stolpe, Andre Hoekema, Guillaume Jetten, and Board Chairman Raj Parekh purchased a combined total of 40,000 shares at a combined value of €465,876. This brings total insider holdings at Galapagos to 1.5% of outstanding shares.
Bausch & Lomb licenses Galapagos program for ophthalmic disease research
Bausch & Lomb has exercised its option to license a Galapagos compound as candidate drug for therapeutic uses in ophthalmic diseases. Based on the April 2008 agreement, Galapagos will receive a payment of €0.5 million from Bausch & Lomb for the license. In the collaboration, Bausch & Lomb is responsible for the preclinical and clinical development of the candidate drug for use in ophthalmic diseases. Galapagos is eligible to receive research funding to support Bausch & Lomb's further development of the compound for ophthalmic uses, plus future milestone payments. Pending successful development and commercialization under the license, potential total value of the payments exceeds US$50 million, plus royalties on the commercial sale of licensed products.
Publication of Annual Financial Report 2009 and Shareholders' Meeting documents
Galapagos published its Annual Financial Report 2009 and documentation for its Annual and Extraordinary General Shareholders' Meetings, which are available in English and Dutch via the Company's website at www.glpg.com, or upon request via e-mail at ir@glpg.com. The Annual and Extraordinary General Shareholders' Meetings will take place on 27 April 2010, starting at 14.00 CET, at the Company's headquarters in Mechelen, Belgium.
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 four clinical and over 50 small molecule discovery/pre-clinical programs. Through risk/reward-sharing alliances with GlaxoSmithKline, Lilly, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Merck & Co. and Roche, Galapagos is eligible to receive up to €3 billion in downstream milestones, plus royalties. Including the BioFocus and Argenta service operations, Galapagos has more than 670 employees and operates facilities in six 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
Elizabeth Goodwin, Director Investor Relations
Tel: +31 6 2291 6240
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