Milestone reached in antibody collaboration, triggering payment

ProStrakan Group plc of Galashiels, UK and Galapagos NV of Mechelen, Belgium, said they reached the second milestone under the collaboration between Galapagos and Swiss pharma company Novartis AG in the discovery and development of antibodies for treating bone-related diseases.  The milestone triggers a payment of $1 million to Galapagos.  Galapagos will pay $750,000 of this amount to ProStrakan as part of their December 2006 agreement.

The collaboration was agreed between Novartis and ProSkelia, a former a subsidiary of ProStrakan in September 2006 and transferred to Galapagos as part of its acquisition of ProSkelia from ProStrakan on 22 December 2006.  Under the terms of that deal Galapagos and ProStrakan split milestone and royalty income.

“We are pleased with the smooth integration of ProSkelia R&D under Galapagos management,” said Onno van Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos.  “This milestone demonstrates the progress our research teams have made since the acquisition in December.”