BioFocus DPI, the service division of Galapagos, has extended its drug discovery agreement with Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) until end 2009. Under the terms of the agreement, BioFocus DPI will identify active compounds by screening of Lilly’s library compounds.

The agreement extension announced today builds on the successful collaboration begun in March 2005. BioFocus DPI has been working with Lilly on discovering new compounds that target specific cellular signal transduction pathways. With this agreement, Lilly secures continued access to BioFocus DPI’s screening and biology expertise to identify new potential target compounds.

"We are pleased to extend this collaboration with Lilly into its fourth year,” said Dr. Chris Newton, Senior VP, BioFocus DPI. “It is satisfying to know that BioFocus DPI’s drug discovery research consistently meets the standards of large pharma companies such as Lilly and that we are successful in these long term collaborative relationships."

Today’s announcement is unrelated to the major osteoporosis alliance that Galapagos initiated with Lilly in December 2007, in which Galapagos’ drug discovery division will be responsible for the development of novel osteoporosis drug candidates potentially through to Phase IIa clinical Proof of Concept.

About BioFocus DPI

BioFocus DPI aims to expand its partners’ drug pipelines by accelerating the gene-to-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 the service division of Galapagos, BioFocus DPI has over 250 employees in four countries worldwide.