In this new collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim, Galapagos is committed to delivering novel drug targets as the basis for developing novel therapies for unmet medical needs in autoimmune disease
BioFocus, the service division of Galapagos, has announced a new three year collaboration in the field of autoimmune discovery research.
BioFocus will expand its SilenceSelect si-RNA based gene collection with an additional gene set, develop a dedicated cellular assay in the field of autoimmune disease, and use this assay to run a target discovery screen.
Galapagos will receive upfront fees and research and development funding and may receive milestone fees when certain drug discovery criteria are met.
"This collaboration capitalises on Galapagos's know-how in the autoimmune field and the strength of its target discovery platform.
"We are delighted to be Boehringer Ingelheim's partner in this disease discovery programme," said Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos.
"In this new collaboration, Galapagos is committed to delivering novel drug targets as the basis for developing novel therapies for unmet medical needs in autoimmune disease".
Autoimmune diseases arise from an overactive immune response of the body against substances and tissues normally present in the body.
Today there are more than 40 known human diseases classified as either definite or probable autoimmune diseases, affecting 5-7% of the population.
Almost all autoimmune diseases appear without warning or apparent cause and most patients suffer from fatigue.
Galapagos is a publicly traded, genomics-based drug discovery company that has drug discovery programmes based on proprietary, novel targets in the bone and joint diseases - osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Galapagos offers a full suite of target-to-drug discovery products and services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies through its division BioFocus, encompassing target discovery and validation, and drug discovery services through to delivery of pre-clinical candidates.
In addition, BioFocus provides adenoviral reagents for rapid identification and validation of novel drug targets and compound libraries for screening.
Galapagos currently employs 203 people, including 76 PhDs, and occupies facilities in Mechelen, Belgium, Saffron Walden, UK and Leiden, Netherlands.
The partners of Galapagos include Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Celgene, GlaxoSmithKline, Idenix, Novartis, Organon, Serono, Vertex, and Wyeth.
