Galapagos
signs research collaboration agreement
Mechelen,
Belgium, and Leiden, The Netherlands, July 6, 2005 –
Galapagos announced today that it has entered into a research
collaboration with Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Limited.
Under the agreement, Galapagos’ genomics partnering
division Galadeno will design a research program for Novartis
employing its SilenceSelect® (gene knock-down) platform
for functional assays in human primary cell assays. The
SilenceSelect technology is based on Galadeno’s collection
of adenoviruses with human gene sequences that specifically
knock down over 4,000 different human proteins by producing
siRNA in a human cell.
Under
the terms of the agreement, Galadeno will provide technology,
reagents and support to enable Novartis to validate drug
targets by analyzing human protein function in human primary
cells. Galadeno will receive payments related to the research
services and its SilenceSelect technology.
“We are very pleased that Novartis Pharmaceuticals
has decided to work with Galapagos for its expertise in
knock-down technology and cellular assays. This collaboration
will allow Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Limited to utilize
our SilenceSelect target discovery engine in a very beneficial
way”, says Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos. “We
are confident that our technology will perform well in the
hands of Novartis. Our SilenceSelect platform has proven
to deliver for our other partners, opening significant opportunities
for continued collaboration.”
About
Galapagos
Galapagos is a publicly traded, genomics-based drug discovery
company (Euronext Brussels, GLPG; Euronext Amsterdam, GLPGA)
that has successfully discovered and validated novel targets
in the bone and joint diseases - osteoarthritis, osteoporosis
and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as in asthma and Alzheimer’s
disease. Proprietary targets and compounds resulting from
these programs are used for Galapagos’ internal drug
discovery programs, combined with selected out-licensing
and partnering of projects during development. Galadeno,
Galapagos’ partnering unit, provides reagents and
functional screens to leading pharmaceutical, biotech and
nutraceutical companies for rapid identification and validation
of novel drug targets. Galapagos currently employs 71 people,
including 17 PhDs, and occupies facilities in Mechelen,
Belgium, and Leiden, The Netherlands. Partners include Bayer,
Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, GlaxoSmithKline, Vertex and
Wyeth.
More information about Galapagos and Galadeno can be found
at www.glpg.com.
Contact:
Onno van de Stolpe
CEO Galapagos
Phone: +31 62 909 8028
Email: onno@galapagos.be
