Galapagos’ service division BioFocus is expected to perform the research and eligible to receive $41m (EUR31m) in research fees during the five-year collaboration.
BioFocus is expected to apply its full range of integrated drug discovery services for this program. Integrated biology and chemistry capabilities will be supported by BioFocus’ expertise in complex primary neuronal assay development, high-content screening, fragment-based screening, computational chemistry, ADME/PK and protein crystallography. The new agreement continues and expands the collaboration started in August 2005.
Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos, said: “Having collaborated with CHDI since 2005 in therapeutic target discovery, we are eager to continue working together to develop novel therapies for Huntington’s disease and meet this urgent medical need. We are confident that the next five years of this long-standing relationship with CHDI will be as productive as the first five.”
Ignacio Munoz-Sanjuan, vice-president of biology at CHDI, said: “BioFocus has delivered expert technologies and experienced staff to therapeutic target and drug discovery research in the fight against Huntington’s disease. This has encouraged us to extend and expand the collaboration, with the ultimate goal of finding disease-modifying treatments for Huntington’s.”