Galapagos Reaches First Milestone In Anti-Infectives Alliance With GSK

Galapagos has achieved the first milestone in its antibacterials and antivirals alliance with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The company received a E500,000 cash payment from GSK. To date, Galapagos has earned E4m in payments from GSK under the alliance.

Reportedly, in December 2007, GSK and Galapagos initiated a program to discover and develop novel anti-infective drug candidates for GSK’s Infectious Diseases Centre of Excellence in Drug Discovery (ID CEDD).

The scope of the alliance was broadened in January 2009 to include three additional GSK targets. Galapagos is responsible for the discovery and development of drug candidates through to clinical Proof of Concept, at which point, GSK will have exclusive option to license each compound for further development and commercialization on a worldwide basis.

Under the terms of the alliance, Galapagos could be eligible to receive up to E95m in upfront fees, development and regulatory milestones payments for a product candidate. If a product is commercialised, Galapagos may receive up to E120m for achievement of specific sales milestones.

Regarding the agreement, the company said that it is also eligible to receive up to double-digit royalties on worldwide sales of alliance products.

Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos, said: “Our discovery platform has delivered novel chemistry against GSK’s viral and bacterial targets and we are in the process of further optimising these molecules. We remain on-track to deliver phase IIa clinical candidates to GSK that offer new treatment prospects for a broad range of infectious diseases.”