Galapagos and Merck Serono enter new collaboration agreements
Mechelen, Belgium; 18 November 2008 - Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG) announced today new collaboration agreements with Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Total value of the contracts for Galapagos is ¤1.1 million over one year.
Galapagos' service division BioFocus DPI will provide SoftFocus(c) compounds for use in Merck Serono's drug discovery programs. In a separate agreement, BioFocus DPI will perform medicinal chemistry services on an undisclosed Merck Serono program; this represents an extension of a long running collaboration which was last expanded in 2005.
"BioFocus DPI has a long relationship with Merck Serono in medicinal chemistry, which we are pleased to extend again this year," said Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos. "The purchase of BioFocus DPI's SoftFocus libraries underscores our ability to grow business with clients."
About Galapagos and BioFocus DPI
Galapagos (Euronext Brussels: GLPG; Euronext Amsterdam: GLPGA; OTC: GLPYY) is a drug discovery company with pre-clinical programs in bone and joint diseases and bone metastasis. Its BioFocus DPI division offers a full suite of target-to-drug discovery products and services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies, encompassing target discovery and validation, screening and drug discovery through to delivery of pre-clinical candidates. BioFocus DPI also provides adenoviral reagents for rapid identification and validation of novel drug targets, compound libraries for drug screening as well as ADMET database products to select compounds. Galapagos currently employs about 460 people and operates facilities in six countries, with global headquarters in Mechelen, Belgium. More information about Galapagos and BioFocus DPI can be found at www.glpg.com and
CONTACT
Galapagos NV
Onno van de Stolpe, CEO
Tel: +31 6 2909 8028