Mechelen, Belgium, 19 May 2008 – Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG) announced today that is has signed a drug discovery research agreement with UCL (University College London). Galapagos’ BioFocus DPI service division will perform medicinal chemistry services for a UCL research project. It is also intended that BioFocus DPI will offer UCL ADME screening facilities during the appropriate stages of the work. Total contract value for Galapagos is expected to reach more than €1.8 million over the course of the two-year agreement.

UCL has an ongoing drug discovery program for the treatment of vascular collapse during sepsis (collapsing of blood vessels due to systemic infection by a pathogen). BioFocus DPI will provide medicinal chemistry services to progress UCL’s lead series through to pre-clinical testing. In addition UCL will also have the opportunity to utilize BioFocus DPI ADME screening services and will receive access to a selection of compounds in BioFocus DPI’s SoftFocus collection to facilitate the identification of new chemical starting points for this drug discovery program.

“We are pleased to add UCL to BioFocus DPI’s considerable list of academic partners,” said Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos. “BioFocus DPI’s leading medicinal chemistry and ADME expertise, such as the newly launched ADME/PK Laboratory, give us a strong edge in winning highly competitive deals.”

About Galapagos and BioFocus DPI

Galapagos (Euronext Brussels: GLPG; Euronext Amsterdam: GLPGA; OTC: GLPYY) is a drug discovery company with pre-clinical programs in bone and joint diseases and bone metastasis. Its BioFocus DPI division offers a full suite of target-to-drug discovery products and services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies, encompassing target discovery and validation, screening and drug discovery through to delivery of pre-clinical candidates. BioFocus DPI also provides adenoviral reagents for rapid identification and validation of novel drug targets, compound libraries for drug screening as well as chemogenomics and ADMET database products to select targets and compounds. Galapagos currently employs 450 people and operates facilities in six countries, with global headquarters in Mechelen, Belgium. More information about Galapagos and BioFocus DPI can be found at www.glpg.com and www.biofocusdpi.com.