Galapagos signs first deal around natural compound library

Collaboration agreement

Galapagos NV of Mechelen, Belgium, has agreed a collaboration with the Danish pharmaceuticals company LEO Pharma, a specialist in dermatology, to carry out high throughput screening, hit verification and profiling of its natural compound library to find compounds against antibacterial targets supplied by LEO.

In return, Galapagos stands to receive up to €400,000 in project fees and up to €3 million in milestone payments, plus royalties on sales of commercial products resulting from the collaboration.

This agreement marks Galapagos’ first deal for its natural compound collection, acquired with the drug discovery activities of Discovery Partners International in July 2006. 

“We are pleased with this new collaboration in many ways.  Not only do we initiate a relationship with LEO Pharma, but we also confirm the interest from the market for our newly acquired natural compounds collection and technologies by landing this high-value deal within only a few months after closing the DPI transaction,” said Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos.