Galapagos and GSK broaden arthritis alliance; Roche licenses pain drug to Afferent

Two 'David & Goliath' licensing deals were announced yesterday, with Belgium's Galapagos NV expanding its arthritis alliance with UK drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline to include additional drug discovery programs based on novel drug target GT622, and Swiss drug major Roche out-licensing a developmental pain drug to US firm Afferent.

Under the terms of the extension deal, Galapagos will receive a payment from GSK of 6.5 million euros ($9.5 million) in cash and becomes eligible for additional success-based milestones and royalties. Since the start of the alliance in June 2006, Galapagos has received a total of 41 million euros in payments from GSK. The expanded arthritis alliance with GSK is now worth more than 200 million euros ($291 million) in milestones, plus up to double-digit royalties.

Earlier this month, Galapagos delivered the first clinical candidate, GLPG0555, in its arthritis alliance with GSK. The Belgian firm developed GLPG0555 based on the novel arthritis target GT622, identified through Galapagos' target discovery platform. Encouraged by this target's promising mode of action, the two companies have now expanded the scope of the GT622 program to increase the chances of developing a new medicine based on this target. Under the broadened alliance, Galapagos will apply its medicinal chemistry and biology expertise to develop additional candidate compounds against GT622.