Galapagos is expected to start a comprehensive safety evaluation to advance the compound towards Phase I trials.
In October 2007, Galapagos entered into an alliance agreement providing Janssen with option rights to acquire worldwide, commercial licenses to certain Galapagos internal programs.
Under the agreement, Galapagos is eligible to receive up to €73m in milestones per program, plus royalties. Till date, the company has received €31m.
Galapagos CEO Onno van de Stolpe said the company’s alliances with pharma provide financing to survive industry standard attrition and get a certain percentage of programs through to the clinic.