Bausch & Lomb and Galapagos sign agreement to collaborate on ophthalmic disease research
Thursday April 10, 2:08 am ET
MECHELEN, BELGIUM--(MARKET WIRE)--Apr 10, 2008 --
Rochester, New York, USA and Mechelen, Belgium; 10 April 2008 - Bausch & Lomb, the eye health company, and Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG), a drug discovery company, announced today that they have entered into a collaborative research agreement. Bausch & Lomb will have the exclusive option to license select Galapagos compounds as development candidates for therapeutic uses in ophthalmic diseases.
"The agreement provides access to a group of compounds that may have excellent development candidate potential," said Praveen Tyle, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Bausch & Lomb. "The small molecule compounds under evaluation have very attractive in vitro and in vivo profiles. Our intent is to develop these compounds as unique therapies, tapping our research expertise in ophthalmic diseases."
"We are pleased to partner with Bausch & Lomb, a leader in the development of treatments for eye diseases. Our collaboration with Bausch & Lomb gives us the opportunity to leverage select compounds in a therapeutic area that we would not otherwise pursue," said Onno van de Stolpe, Chief Executive Officer of Galapagos.
Bausch & Lomb is responsible for the preclinical and clinical development of the select compounds for use in ophthalmic diseases. Under the terms of the collaboration, Galapagos will receive an upfront payment of US$400,000 and may receive research funding to support Bausch & Lomb's further development of the compounds for ophthalmic uses, plus future milestone payments. Pending successful development and commercialization under the license, potential total value of the payments exceeds US$50 million, plus royalties on the commercial sale of licensed products.
Contact
Mike McDougall, APR
Director, Corporate Communications, Bausch & Lomb
Tel: +1 585 338 5469
mmcdougall@bausch.com
Onno van de Stolpe
CEO, Galapagos NV
Tel: +31 6 2909 8028
ir@glpg.com
About Bausch & Lomb
Bausch & Lomb is the eye health company dedicated to perfecting vision and enhancing life for consumers around the world. Its core businesses include soft and rigid gas permeable contact lenses and lens care products, and ophthalmic surgical and pharmaceutical products. The Bausch & Lomb name is one of the best known and most respected healthcare brands in the world. Founded in 1853, the Company is headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., and employs approximately 13,000 people worldwide. Its products are available in more than 100 countries. More information about the Company can be found at www.bausch.com.
About Galapagos
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.
surf's up......crikey
