Galapagos & Arthrogen enter target discovery alliance

[Guest guest]

Galapagos and Arthrogen enter target discovery alliance

http://www.faz.net/d/invest/meldung.aspx?id=22930657

Mechelen, Belgium; 30 March 2006 - Galapagos NV 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

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, GlaxoKline, 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@...

Arthrogen BV Willem J. van Oort, CEO Tel: +31 6 5333 3822

vanoort@...