Belgian biotech Galapagos goes on a spending spree

Belgian biotech company Galapagos (Euronext: GLPG) announced that it will acquire Dutch cell therapy company CellPoint and AboundBio to boost access to next-generation cell therapies, for around $250 million.

Galapagos chief executive Paul Stoffels said: “Our goal is to bring three differentiated, next-generation CAR-T candidates into the clinic over the next three years. This is a first key step in our strategic transformation to accelerate and diversify our pipeline with the aim to create short- and long-term value through focused external growth.”

Galapagos has lost more than 50% of its market value in the past year, as a result of a disappointing alliance with Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD), and the discontinuation of an important research candidate ziritaxestat (GLPG1690). Galapagos’ shares dipped 4% to 51.76 euros on the latest news.