Mechelen, Belgium; 30 March
2006 - Galapagos NV (Euronext & LSE: GLPG) announced
today that its service division BioFocus has entered into
a three-year target discovery alliance with Arthrogen BV,
a joint venture of the Dubai Bone & Joint Center and
the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam. The alliance focuses
on identifying novel targets for gene therapy applications
in rheumatoid arthritis. Under the terms of the agreement,
BioFocus will extend its SilenceSelect® collection with
new gene sets, set up cellular assays and screen the expanded
SilenceSelect collection in the assays. The human protein
targets identified in the screens will then be characterized
and validated. In return, Galapagos will receive from Arthrogen
an upfront payment and R&D funding and will be eligible
for development milestones. Should all criteria on a target
be achieved, revenues for Galapagos with respect to such
target may exceed € 7.5 million. Additionally, Galapagos
is entitled to receive royalties on any marketed products
that may arise from the alliance.
“This collaboration
with Arthrogen again demonstrates the power of our SilenceSelect
target discovery engine,” said Onno van de Stolpe,
Chief Executive Officer of Galapagos. “We look forward
to working with Arthrogen to identify successful targets
for their rheumatoid arthritis gene therapy programs.”
“Arthrogen strongly
believes that the dedicated target discovery technologies
from Galapagos will increase the quantity and the quality
of Arthrogen’s product pipeline, and will accelerate
Arthrogen’s programs to bring innovative local gene
therapy products for rheumatoid arthritis to the clinic
and the market,” said Willem van Oort, Chief Executive
Officer of Arthrogen.
About SilenceSelect
discovery technology
The SilenceSelect
target discovery platform is based on adenoviruses that
efficiently introduce human gene sequences into a wide variety
of human cells to knock-down specific proteins. High-throughput
assays that represent a selected human disease state are
then used to functionally select for those proteins that
have a causative effect in those models of human disease.
After rigorous validation of these protein targets, they
form the basis for the development of novel drugs.
About Galapagos
Galapagos
is a publicly traded, genomics-based drug discovery company
(Euronext Brussels, GLPG; Euronext Amsterdam, GLPGA, London
AiM: GLPG) that has drug discovery programs based on proprietary,
novel targets in bone and joint diseases - osteoarthritis,
osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Galapagos offers
a full suite of target-to-drug discovery products and services
to pharmaceutical and biotech companies through its division
BioFocus, encompassing target discovery and validation,
and drug discovery services through to delivery of pre-clinical
candidates. In addition, BioFocus provides adenoviral reagents
for rapid identification and validation of novel drug targets
and compound libraries for screening. Galapagos currently
employs more than 210 people, including 80 PhDs, and occupies
facilities in Mechelen, Belgium, Saffron Walden, UK and
Leiden, The Netherlands. Partners of Galapagos include Amgen,
AstraZeneca, BASF, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, GlaxoSmithKline,
Idenix, Novartis, Organon, Roche, Serono, Vertex, and Wyeth.
More information about Galapagos and BioFocus can be found
at www.glpg.com.
About Arthrogen
Arthrogen was founded in 2005 as a joint venture between
the Dubai Bone & Joint Center (DBAJ) in the United Arab
Emirates and the Academic Medical Center (AMC) in Amsterdam,
the Netherlands. Arthrogen is working on the development
of innovative local gene therapy for patients with rheumatoid
arthritis. The stable transfer of a therapeutic gene to
a joint allows intra-articular synthesis of the protein
at the site of inflammation for a sustained period of time,
without significant systemic side-effects. The main focus
is on disease-regulated expression of therapeutic genes
using adeno-associated virus (AAV) as vector. The core business
is the development of new, optimized vectors and the validation
of therapeutic genes in animal models of arthritis. Having
access to a large, state-of-the art animal facility, GMP
manufacturing facilities, and with the cooperation of AMC’s
Department of Clinical Immunology & Rheumatology, Arthrogen
is able to develop viral gene therapy technology into the
clinic on a relatively short term. Initiation of clinical
trials will take place in close cooperation with the AMC
and DBAJ. Arthrogen balances risk by building a broad pipeline
of products. More information about Arthrogen can be found
at www.arthrogen.nl.
CONTACT
Galapagos
NV
Onno van de Stolpe, CEO
Tel: +31 6 2909 8028
ir@glpg.com
