Galapagos signs inflammatory diseases agreement with Merck & Co

Belgian drug discovery company Galapagos has entered into a multi-year global strategic alliance with Merck & Co to develop potential new therapies in inflammatory diseases.

Galapagos will be responsible for the discovery and pre-clinical development of new small molecule candidate drugs. Merck will have the exclusive option to licence each candidate for clinical development and commercialisation on a worldwide basis.

The alliance will make use of Galapagos" proprietary SilenceSelect target discovery platform for identification of novel targets in inflammatory diseases. After validation, targets will be selected by a joint steering committee and entered into screening and chemistry by Galapagos.

Galapagos may execute phase I clinical studies and will have the right to further develop and commercialise certain compounds for which Merck does not exercise its exclusive option.

Galapagos will receive an upfront fee of Euro 2.5m from Merck. Potentially, the company could receive development and milestone payments exceeding €192m for multiple products.

"This new alliance with Merck in inflammatory diseases, our sixth pharma alliance to date, underscores the quality and versatility of Galapagos" target discovery platform," said chief executive Onno van de Stolpe.