Guthrie and Galapagos

    Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG; Amsterdam: GLPGA; GLPYY.PK or GLPGF.PK) and CHDI Foundation, Inc., a non-profit Los Angelese organization seeking treatments for Huntington’s disease (HD or Huntington's chorea, which killed Woody Guthrie), announced today new agreements to try to develop novel assays for drug discovery to evaluate therapeutic compounds with potential for treating the disease. Total value of the contracts for Galapagos is $1 mn (€0.8 mn) over 18 months.

     Galapagos’ service division, BioFocus DPI, will develop a high-throughput screening assay in mouse neurons to help identify compounds that prevent the neuronal dysfunction associated with HD. BioFocus will also use its profiling and assay development expertise to evaluate known compounds which inhibit certain enzymes with key roles in HD. These new programs continue the collaboration started just over two years ago.

     Said Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos, "Our service division continues to build on its reputation for high quality drug discovery."

       Huntington's is a hereditary disease caused by a mutation in the huntington gene. Each child of a parent with the gene mutation has a 50:50 chance of inheriting the mutation. Those carrying the mutation suffer failure and death of brain cells leading to cognitive and physical impairments that, as the disease progresses, significantly disable HD patients and ultimately cause their death. Symptoms of Huntington's disease generally develop in midlife and become progressively more debilitating. They can also develop in infancy or old age. Once overt symptoms appear, patients live for about 15 to 20 years. One person in 10,000 is believed to carry the mutation in the huntington gene. There is currently no way to delay the onset of symptoms or slow the progression of HD.

      Galapagos, a recommended stock, is a drug discovery company with pre-clinical programs in bone and joint diseases and bone metastasis.

      CHDI is a non-profit organization whose mission is to rapidly discover and develop drugs that delay or slow Huntington's disease. CHDI supports an international network of research laboratories from academia and industry. As a collaborative enabler, CHDI seeks to bring partners together to identify critical scientific issues and move drug candidates to clinical evaluation quickly. www.chdifoundation.org.