BioWorld International Correspondent

PARIS - The Belgian firm Galapagos Genomics NV signed an agreement with the Procter & Gamble Co., providing for the latter to validate two therapeutic targets for osteoporosis emanating from Galapagos' in-house research.

Galapagos Genomics, of Mechelen, discovered the targets using its PhenoSelect adenovirus-based gene expression technology and subsequently validated them in in vitro assays. Its CEO, Onno van de Stolpe, told BioWorld International that P&G would draw on its expertise in osteoporosis to further validate the role of those targets in the disease and, if that proved positive, initiate development based on the proteins.

He stressed that the deal was a "major milestone" for Galapagos, since it was the first time that targets emanating from its own research have been taken up by a third party. It confirmed that "Galapagos' PhenoSelect platform is ideally suited to find novel genes that are key regulators of disease processes," van de Stolpe said.

Larry Games, P&G's vice president for research and development, global pharmaceuticals, said "the next-generation therapeutics in osteoporosis will need to have bone-forming activity, and this is exactly what Galapagos' targets are aimed at."

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but van de Stolpe said they provided for Galapagos to receive "substantial milestone payments" if P&G takes the targets into clinical development. That would not be for several years, however. Before then, P&G would have to decide whether to initiate preclinical development of therapeutics for osteoporosis based on one or both of the targets, and if so would acquire an appropriate license from Galapagos.

The Belgian company is engaged in drug discovery and development programs in three areas, the most advanced of which is bone disease, van de Stolpe said, while the others are psoriasis and Alzheimer's disease. At the same time, it performs fee-for-service activities for the biopharmaceutical industry using PhenoSelect.

P&G, of Cincinnati, is a past customer of the company; in October 2001 Galapagos signed a one-year collaboration agreement to supply P&G with adenoviral vectors containing human genes selected by the U.S. company. P&G used the recombinant adenoviruses to introduce and express newly discovered genes into human cells in vitro and to evaluate the function of the proteins encoded by those genes.

Van de Stolpe said the new collaboration had no connection with the previous one, however. This time, he said, "P&G is interested in the intellectual property."

Galapagos Genomics was founded in 1999 as a joint venture between Mechelen-based Tibotec-Virco NV (which was taken over by Johnson & Johnson, of New Brunswick, N.J., in March 2002) and Crucell Holland BV, of Leiden, the Netherlands. Its shareholder base was broadened early in March 2002, however, when Galapagos completed an initial funding round that netted €21.4 million from a group of European and American venture capital funds and Crucell. Galapagos' PhenoSelect technology is based on Crucell's PER.C6 human cell line expression platform, to which Galapagos has an exclusive license in functional genomics applications.