Galapagos NV said it reached significant milestones in its drug discovery alliance with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) plc in osteoarthritis, triggering a payment of €7.5 million. The programme dates from June 2006, when GSK’s Centre of Excellence for External Drug Discovery partnered with Galapagos to develop disease-modifying drugs with clinical proof of concept.
The aim is for Galapagos to expand its portfolio of osteoarthritis targets, conduct compound screening, identify tractable hits, pursue a number of hit-to-lead programmes, and develop leads through to proof of concept in Phase IIa.
GSK has exclusive options to further develop and commercialize these compounds on a worldwide basis, while Galapagos will have the right to further develop and commercialise compounds which GSK does not want.
In July 2007, GSK made a €4.4 million equity investment in Galapagos and the alliance was expanded to include up to two selected GSK targets. The latest payment is the fourth since the start of the osteoarthritis alliance. The milestone of €7.5 million includes €5.9 million for initiating two drug discovery programs from GSK brought into the alliance when it was expanded in July 2007.
To date, Galapagos has received a total of €15.1 million in access fees and milestone payments from GSK under the alliance.
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