Galapagos has successfully identified a second pre-clinical candidate compound in its osteoarthritis alliance with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Galapagos also reached a milestone on another compound in the alliance. Together these milestones trigger payments totaling €5.2 million to Galapagos.
The pre-clinical candidate is a small molecule that meets all the chemical and biological criteria set by GSK for a potential new medicine, said the company.
The candidate was developed by Galapagos against a new target discovered with Galapagos’ proprietary platform. The molecule is now ready for scale up chemistry and comprehensive safety evaluation, with the goal of entering Phase I clinical research in 2010.
Onno van de Stolpe, Chief Executive Officer of Galapagos, said: “Six months after announcing our first pre-clinical candidate in this alliance, we are pleased to announce the delivery of a second candidate drug.”