Published on November 13, 2009 at 4:02 AM
Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG) announces today that third quarter 2009 operational and financial results were in line with management expectations. These results encourage the Company to retain full year guidance of EUR 100 million revenues, a growth of 30% compared to 2008. Galapagos' service division BioFocus will significantly increase its cash contribution to the Group result for the full year 2009. With operational cash burn also on track, Galapagos management increases guidance for year-end 2009 cash position to EUR 38 million due to the successful EUR 18.2 million private placement completed in October.
Galapagos also achieved progress in its development programs in the third quarter. The Company announced that its most advanced first-in-class program, GLPG0259 for rheumatoid arthritis, demonstrated safety and an excellent pharmacokinetic profile in a first Phase I study; this compound started a second Phase I study in September. Galapagos has completed its first-in-human trial for the IRA program in bone metastasis (GLPG0187) and expects to announce top-line results at the start of 2010. With Nanocort starting Phase II studies for the treatment of MS flares shortly and the first candidate drug from the osteoarthritis alliance with GSK entering the clinic next month, Galapagos is on-track to have four programs in clinical development by the end of 2009.
Furthermore in the third quarter, the Company announced milestones in its arthritis alliance with GlaxoSmithKline and its osteoporosis alliance with Lilly. BioFocus signed agreements with Procter & Gamble and Schering-Plough, and strengthened its network of cutting-edge capabilities through partnerships with Oncodesign and DiscoveRx. In September, Galapagos announced a collaboration with Charley's Fund and the Nash Avery Foundation to investigate the potential effectiveness of Galapagos' SARM candidate drug (GLPG0492) for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In October, Galapagos reached the first milestone in the anti-infectives alliance with GlaxoSmithKline and expanded the metabolic diseases alliance with Merck & Co to include atherosclerosis.
SOURCE: Galapagos NV