MECHELEN, Belgium, June 7, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Galapagos Genomics NV, Europe's leading target discovery company, announced today that it has identified, validated and filed patent applications on several novel drug targets in Alzheimer's disease, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and asthma. Galapagos has recently initiated small molecule drug development programs based on these proprietary targets. In order to expedite the building of chemistry programs around its target portfolio, Galapagos has recruited Dr. Philip Huxley as Senior Director of Drug Discovery. Galapagos uses its adenoviral based over-expression (FLeXSelect(TM)) and siRNA knock-down (SilenceSelect(TM)) collections to identify genes that modulate selected diseases in human cell models. In addition to applications in its core disease areas, Galapagos provides access to its discovery technology to a number of corporate partners. Galapagos delivers its partners validated targets that are drugable, disease modifying, and ready to be taken into small molecule screens.
"We are very pleased to see that our target discovery engine in combination with our disease biology expertise has delivered an exiting set of proprietary targets that are ready to be taken into small molecule screening," said Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos. "With the addition of Phil Huxley to the team, we can enter the targets into drug discovery and rapidly move compounds towards the clinic."
Dr. Phil Huxley joined Galapagos in May 2004 to head the drug discovery activities and initiate screening and hit-to-lead programs. Previously, Dr. Huxley was with Avidex in Abingdon, UK, where he had been Head of Drug Discovery since 2000. Prior to that, he was Head of Molecular Design at British Biotech in Oxford, UK. He obtained his PhD in Theoretical Chemistry from the University of Sussex in Brighton.
About Galapagos Genomics NV
Galapagos Genomics is a discovery company focused on the rapid identification and validation of disease modifying drug targets by functional screening in human disease models. The research activities encompass the internal programs in osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, Alzheimer's disease and Asthma, as well as numerous partnerships with leading pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and biotech companies. Proprietary targets resulting from our internal programs are used for the development of drugs in our core disease areas, combined with selected out-licensing and partnering of projects during development. The Company currently employs 83 people, including 22 PhD's, and occupies a 2000 sq.m. research and production facility in Mechelen with additional research laboratories in Leiden, The Netherlands. Galapagos' partners include Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Johnson&Johnson, Organon, Pfizer, Procter&Gamble, Vertex and Wyeth. Galapagos was founded in 1999 by Crucell (Nasdaq:CRXL) (Euronext:CRXL) and Tibotec to exploit Crucell's unique PER.C6TM technology for target discovery. The shareholders are Abingworth Management, Apax Partners, Burrill&Company, AlpInvest Partners, Crucell Holland and Tibotec-Virco. More information on Galapagos can be found at the website www.galapagosgenomics.com.
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