Nature Biotechnology Publishes Galapagos’ PhenoSelect Target Discovery Platform

Mechelen, Belgium, November 18, 2002 -- Galapagos Genomics today announced that a study published in the current issue of Nature Biotechnology (Volume 20, pp 1154-1157, November 2002) demonstrates the use of its arrayed adenoviral expression libraries for gene function discovery.
The study, titled “Arrayed adenoviral expression libraries for functional screening” reports for the first time that large collections of arrayed adenoviruses harboring human genes can be used efficiently to discover novel gene functions. Identification and validation of gene functions in primary human cells has historically been a technical challenging and time consuming process. With the advent of Galapagos’ arrayed adenoviral technology in combination with disease relevant cellular assays, researchers now have the tools to come up with truly functionally discovered targets in a rapid high throughput mode.
"The ability to identify and validate drug targets that are causative for a specific disease is a key challenge in exploratory biology," said Robin Brown, PhD, CSO of Galapagos. "Our platform enables us to industrialize the discovery of relevant disease targets and get a biological understanding of human disease mechanism. This information is crucial for the further drug discovery efforts based on these targets".
Patents covering the technology described in this study were issued to Galapagos by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2002.
In the Nature Biotechnology study, Galapagos describes the use of its PhenoSelect library to identify regulators of osteogenesis, metastasis and angiogenesis. The PhenoSelect library consists of over 100,000 arrayed adenoviruses harboring cDNAs originating from human placenta tissue. The adenoviruses were used in cellular assays with human primary cells and the readouts identified both known regulators as well as novel sequences that encode proteins hitherto not known to play a role in these pathways.

Galapagos Genomics is a privately held company headquartered in Mechelen, Belgium. The Company has built a functional genomics platform using arrayed adenoviruses containing human genes. It's PhenoSelect libraries are in a format that enable high-throughput screening using cellular assays. Galapagos is using its technology platform for the discovery and validation of proprietary drug targets and for partnering with biotech and pharma. It’s research programs focus on three disease areas: Alzheimer’s disease, bone diseases and psoriasis. The Company currently employs 92 people, including 22 PhD's, and occupies a 2000 sq.m. research and production facility in Mechelen, with additional research laboratories in Leiden, The Netherlands. Galapagos’ current partners include Bayer, Euroscreen, Exelixis, Incyte Genomics, Organon, Pharmacia, Procter&Gamble, UCB Pharma and Vertex. The shareholders are Abingworth Management, Apax Partners, Burrill & Company, NIB Capital Private Equity, Crucell Holland BV (Nasdaq, Euronext: CRXL) and Tibotec-Virco NV.