Argenta, a service division of Galapagos NV, announced today it has signed a contract extension with Genentech, Inc., a member of the Roche Group. The extended agreement expands the portfolio of projects which are in collaboration with Genentech and allows Genentech to place projects directly into Galapagos’ other service division, BioFocus.

BioFocus and the Usher III Initiative, Inc., a not-for-profit organization, announced today that they have embarked on a drug discovery project focused on Usher Syndrome Type III. Usher Syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that causes the loss of hearing and vision. Under the agreement, BioFocus will perform an integrated program encompassing medicinal chemistry and biological sciences.

Saffron Walden and Bristol, UK; 16 July 2010 – BioFocus and the University of Bristol today announced a new drug discovery collaboration aimed at developing treatments for chronic pain associated with diabetes (diabetic neuropathic pain). BioFocus will provide hit-to-lead and lead optimization services for a Wellcome Trust funded program at the University of Bristol. Total contract value for BioFocus could exceed €3.3 million in research fees over two years.

Saffron Walden, UK; 12 July 2010 – BioFocus announced today that the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) have extended their agreement for the operation of the Molecular Libraries Small Molecule Repository (MLSMR) through December 2012. According to the terms of this agreement, BioFocus will be eligible to receive up to $8.6 million (€7.0 million) over the course of the two year extension.

BioFocus, leader dans la fourniture de services de découverte de médicaments candidats, services qui vont du gène au candidat clinique, a annoncé aujourd'hui qu'il avait été notifié par le Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche du renouvellement de son agrément CIR.

BioFocus, a leading provider of gene-to-clinical candidate drug discovery services, today announced that it had been notified by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research, that its CIR accreditation had been renewed.

• Expands and extends collaboration initiated in 2005
• Largest external collaboration to date for BioFocus
• BioFocus eligible to receive US$41 million during five-year collaboration

BioFocus, a leading provider of gene-to-clinical candidate drug discovery services, today announced the launch of four biologically targeted libraries. These new libraries contain novel, drug-like compounds that specifically target kinases and protein-protein interactions.

Today, Galapagos announced the purchase of Argenta Discovery 2009 Ltd., a privately held contract research drug discovery company with 140 employees. This company will operate under the name ‘Argenta’ as a Galapagos drug discovery service division. Together with BioFocus, the two companies will provide high quality services to the discovery research communities. The pairing-up of two profitable operations within the financially strong Galapagos Group will further maintain stability and hence credibility in the eyes of our client communities.

BioFocus announced today that it has achieved success in its oncology target discovery collaboration with Ortho Biotech Oncology Research & Development, a division of Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. (Janssen). The success of the program has resulted in €1.6 million in target acceptance payments.