In July 2010, Servier and Galapagos announced their alliance to develop new medicines for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). Galapagos is responsible for the discovery and development of new candidate drugs, and Servier has an exclusive option to license these after the completion of Phase I clinical trials by Galapagos.
“Galapagos achieved multiple milestones, including optimization of a molecule against a novel OA target coming from our discovery platform,” said Onno van de Stolpe, Galapagos’ CEO. “Success like this continues to help us finance multiple shots on goal with novel proprietary targets in a number of disease areas.”
“We are very pleased with the progress of this alliance with Galapagos in osteoarthritis, a tough disease to tackle with no existing disease modifying treatment. This is in line with Servier’s commitment to develop disease-modifying drugs for sufferers of uncured diseases, such as OA, a debilitating disease that affects 12% of the world population, leading to severe and costly handicaps,” said Bernard Marchand, Head of Discovery Research at Servier.
About Galapagos’ osteoarthritis alliance with Servier
The alliance between Servier and Galapagos builds on novel osteoarthritis drug targets discovered by Galapagos through its proprietary platform. For any marketed products, Servier will have the rights to development, registration and commercialization, but Galapagos retains exclusive U.S. commercialization rights. Galapagos is also eligible to receive discovery, development, regulatory and other milestone payments that could reach €290 million, plus royalties upon commercialization of products outside the U.S. covered under the agreement. Galapagos and Servier initiated a second alliance in oncology earlier this year.
About osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis, typically affecting people aged 45 and older. It is a degenerative disease characterized by joint destruction and loss of cartilage. Cartilage is the slippery tissue that covers the ends of bones in a joint. Healthy cartilage allows bones to glide over one another. It also absorbs energy from the shock of physical movement. In OA, the surface layer of cartilage breaks down and wears away. This allows bones under the cartilage to rub together, causing pain, swelling, and loss of motion of the joint. Over time, the joint may lose its normal shape.
Also, bone spurs called osteophytes - may grow on the edges of the joint. Bits of bone or cartilage can break off and float inside the joint space. This causes more pain and damage. No currently available treatments prevent OA or even reverse or block the disease process. Treatment of OA involves weight control, exercise, and pain relief, most frequently with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that relieve the symptoms without changing the course of the underlying disease. Many OA patients have pain that persists despite these measures and often then have to undergo costly surgical procedures to replace their damaged joints. It is expected that with the aging of the population, more individuals will be prone to develop OA. As mobility of seniors is of high importance to maintaining a high quality of life, preventing the severity of OA is seen as an immense clinical need over the next decade.
About Servier
Servier is a privately-run research based pharmaceutical company with a 2011 turnover of €3.9 billion. Servier is dedicating 25% of its turnover to Research & Development in cardiovascular, metabolic, neurological, psychiatric and bone and joint diseases as well as oncology. Servier is established in 140 countries worldwide with over 20,000 employees. More info at: www.servier.com
About Galapagos
Galapagos (Euronext: GLPG; OTC: GLPYY) is a mid-size biotechnology company specialized in the discovery and development of small molecule and antibody therapies with novel modes-of-action. The Company is progressing GLPG0634, as well as one of the largest pipelines in biotech, with seven programs in development and over 50 discovery programs. The Galapagos Group has over 800 employees and operates facilities in six countries, with global headquarters in Mechelen, Belgium. More info at: www.glpg.com