Galapagos and CHDI Foundation, Inc. enter new five-year collaboration for Huntington's disease therapeutics
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
* Expands and extends collaboration initiated in 2005
* Largest external collaboration to date for BioFocus
* BioFocus eligible to receive US$41 million during five-year collaboration
Mechelen, Belgium and New York, NY, USA; 29 April 2010 - Galapagos NV (Euronext:
GLPG) and CHDI Foundation, Inc., a non-profit virtual biotech pursuing therapies
for Huntington's disease, announced today a new five-year collaboration focused
on discovering novel drugs for Huntington's disease. Galapagos' service division
BioFocus will perform the research and is eligible to receive US$41 million (?31
million) in research fees during the five-year collaboration.
BioFocus will 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 announced today
continues and expands the collaboration started in August 2005.
"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," said Onno van de
Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos. "We are confident that the next five years of this
long-standing relationship with CHDI will be as productive as the first five."
"BioFocus has delivered expert technologies and experienced staff to therapeutic
target and drug discovery research in the fight against Huntington's disease,"
said Ignacio Munoz-Sanjuan, Vice-President, Biology at CHDI. "This has
encouraged us to extend and expand the collaboration, with the ultimate goal of
finding disease-modifying treatments for Huntington's."
About Huntington's Disease
Huntington's disease is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by a
mutation in the huntingtin gene. Each child of a parent with a mutation in the
huntingtin gene has a 50-50 chance of inheriting the mutation. As a result of
carrying the mutation, an individual's brain cells fail and die leading to
cognitive and physical impairments that, over the course of the disease,
significantly impair the individual's quality of life and ultimately cause
death. It is estimated that one person in 10,000 carries a mutation in the
huntingtin gene. There is currently no way to delay the onset of symptoms or
slow the progression of Huntington's disease.
About CHDI Foundation, Inc.
CHDI Foundation, Inc. is a privately-funded, not-for-profit, virtual biotech
company that is exclusively dedicated to rapidly discovering and developing
therapies that slow the progression of Huntington's disease (HD). Our
scientists work closely with a network of more than 600 researchers in academic
and industrial laboratories around the world in the pursuit of these novel
therapies, providing project management to ensure that our common goals remain
in focus. This helps bridge the translational gap that often exists between
academic and industrial research pursuits that adds costly delays to therapy
development. In its role as a collaborative enabler, CHDI seeks to bring the
right partners together to identify and address critical scientific issues and
move drug candidates to clinical evaluation as rapidly as possible. Our
activities extend from exploratory biology to the identification and validation
of therapeutic targets, and from drug discovery and development to clinical
studies and trials. More information about CHDI can be found at
www.chdifoundation.org
About BioFocus
BioFocus
pipelines by accelerating the gene-to-drug candidate discovery process. This is
achieved through a comprehensive discovery platform, which includes target
discovery in human primary cells, focused as well as diverse compound libraries,
in vitro and cell-based screening, structural biology, medicinal chemistry,
ADME/PK services, supported by unique chemogenomic and informatics tools, and
compound library acquisition, storage and distribution services. As a service
division of Galapagos
based in the UK, the US and Switzerland. More info at: www.biofocus.com
About Galapagos
Galapagos
biotechnology company specialized in the discovery and development of small
molecule and antibody therapies with novel modes-of-action. The Company is
progressing one of the largest pipelines in biotech, with four clinical and over
50 small molecule discovery/pre-clinical programs. Through risk/reward-sharing
alliances with GlaxoSmithKline, Lilly, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Merck & Co. and
Roche, Galapagos is eligible to receive up to ?3 billion in downstream
milestones, plus royalties. Together with its BioFocus and Argenta service
operations, Galapagos has over 670 employees and operates facilities in six
countries, with global headquarters in Mechelen, Belgium. More info at:
www.glpg.com
CONTACTS
Galapagos NV
Onno van de Stolpe, CEO
Tel: +31 6 2909 8028
ir(at)glpg.com
CHDI Foundation, Inc.
Simon Noble PhD, Director, Scientific Communications
Tel: +1 212 660 8112
simon.noble(at)chdifoundation.org
This release may contain forward-looking statements, including, without
limitation, statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates,"
"expects," "intends," "plans," "seeks," "estimates," "may," "will," "could,"
"stands to," and "continues," as well as similar expressions. Such
forward-looking statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties
and other factors which might cause the actual results, financial condition,
performance or achievements of Galapagos, or industry results, to be materially
different from any historic or future results, financial conditions, performance
or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Given
these uncertainties, the reader is advised not to place any undue reliance on
such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as
of the date of publication of this document. Galapagos expressly disclaims any
obligation to update any such forward-looking statements in this document to
reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in
events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, unless
required by law or regulation.
[HUG#1409697]
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 29.04.2010 - 07:32 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 19912
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