Galapagos NV (Euronext & LSE: GLPG) announced today that its service division BioFocus DPI has entered into a drug discovery collaboration with the Institute for OneWorld Health, a non-profit pharmaceutical company headquartered in San Francisco, California. OneWorld Health is working on a number of drug development initiatives for neglected diseases, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other donors. The collaboration focuses on the development of new drugs to combat diarrheal diseases, a fundamental threat to the health of children in the developing world. Under the terms of the agreement, BioFocus DPI will apply its medicinal chemistry expertise to identify new drug candidates for OneWorld Health’s diarrheal disease program. Total contract value for Galapagos exceeds €3 million over two and a half years.

Diarrheal diseases are a leading cause of death in children under the age of five worldwide. Each year more than two million children in developing countries die from these diseases, caused by a wide range of bacterial, parasitic, and viral pathogens. Diarrheal diseases result in rapid fluid loss, which can lead to severe dehydration and death. The collaboration between BioFocus DPI and OneWorld Health aims to develop new anti-secretory drugs, which inhibit the loss of fluid in the intestine. These drugs will be used as an adjunct to oral rehydration therapy for the treatment of life-threatening enterotoxigenic E. Coli and cholera which are responsible for nearly 40% of reported cases of diarrheal disease. Under the scope of the project, BioFocus DPI will offer its expertise in medicinal chemistry to identify potential drug candidates for future development.

“We are very proud that OneWorld Health has chosen to award this project of major health concern to BioFocus DPI,” said Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos. “This collaboration further illustrates BioFocus DPI’s ability to apply its versatile drug discovery approach to a wide range of disease areas. We are pleased to be able to contribute to the worldwide research effort aimed at saving lives of children in developing world countries.”

“BioFocus DPI’s expertise in generating new drug leads will contribute to the advancement of our drug development program in diarrheal diseases,” said Dr. Victoria Hale, Founder and CEO of OneWorld Health. “Their medicinal chemistry knowledge and high standards of research will help us to reach our goal of developing safe, effective and affordable drugs for the treatment of diarrheal diseases in developing countries.”

About Galapagos

Galapagos is a publicly traded, genomics-based drug discovery company (Euronext Brussels, GLPG; Euronext Amsterdam, GLPGA, London AiM: GLPG) that has drug discovery programs based on proprietary, novel targets in 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 DPI, encompassing target discovery and drug discovery services through to delivery of pre-clinical candidates. In addition, BioFocus DPI provides adenoviral reagents for rapid identification and validation of novel drug targets and compound libraries for drug screening. Galapagos currently employs more than 330 people, including 144 PhDs, and operates facilities in seven countries, with global headquarters in Mechelen, Belgium. More information about Galapagos and BioFocus DPI can be found at www.glpg.com.

About the Institute for OneWorld Health

The Institute for OneWorld Health, the first U.S. nonprofit pharmaceutical company, develops safe, effective, affordable medicines for people with diseases of the developing world. OneWorld Health applies its entrepreneurial business model to the unmet medical needs of the developing world through its staff of experienced pharmaceutical scientists who identify promising leads and drive drug development from pre-clinical studies to clinical trials through regulatory approval. The Institute for OneWorld Health was founded by Dr. Victoria Hale in 2000 and receives funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other donors. The Institute for OneWorld Health, headquartered in San Francisco, USA, is a tax-exempt 501(c) (3) U.S. corporation. More information about The Institute for OneWorld Health can be found at www.oneworldhealth.org. Media resources are available at www.oneworldhealth.org/media/index.php/. 

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