Mechelen, Belgium; 16 January 2012 - Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG) announced today that it has identified a second pre-clinical compound in its alliance with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV. This achievement triggered a milestone payment of €4 million to Galapagos.
In 2007, Galapagos announced an alliance agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV providing it with option rights to acquire worldwide, commercial licenses to certain Galapagos internal programs. The milestone announced today relates to the delivery of a second pre-clinical candidate developed by Galapagos.
"We are very pleased to announce the delivery of a second candidate drug in the alliance with Janssen," said Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos. "Galapagos is progressing multiple programs successfully across different alliances and delivering promising candidate drugs."
About Galapagos
Galapagos (Euronext: GLPG; OTC: GLPYY) is a mid-size clinical stage biotechnology company specialized in the discovery and development of small molecule and antibody therapies with a novel mode-of-action. The Company is progressing four clinical, six pre-clinical, and 30 discovery programs in cystic fibrosis, inflammation, antibiotics, metabolic disease, and other indications.
Its lead program is GLPG0634, an orally-available, selective inhibitor of JAK1, for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and potentially other inflammatory diseases. In two four-week Phase 2 studies, GLPG0634 showed improvement in the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and a unique safety profile. A 6 month Phase 2b study is expected to start Q2 2013 with top line data expected in Q4 2014. AbbVie and Galapagos signed a worldwide license agreement whereby AbbVie will be responsible for further development and commercialization after Phase 2b. Galapagos is also progressing two other clinical development programs with clinical readouts expected in 2013: GLPG0187, a novel integrin receptor antagonist in development for metastasis, is in a Phase 1b patient study; GLPG0974 is the first inhibitor of GPR43 to be evaluated clinically for the treatment of IBD. This program is in a second Phase 1 study and will start a Proof of Concept Phase 2 study in Q2 2013.
The Galapagos Group, including fee-for-service companies BioFocus, Argenta and Fidelta, has over 800 employees and operates facilities in five countries, with global headquarters in Mechelen, Belgium. Further information about the company and its drug development programs can be found online 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
ir@glpg.com
Galapagos forward-looking statements
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