Galapagos extends collaboration with Amgen
BioFocus, the services division of European drug discovery company Galapagos, has extended its drug discovery collaboration with US-based Amgen for biology, computational/medicinal chemistry services and supply of biologically-directed library compounds for Amgen's ion channel lead discovery programmes throughout 2006. This agreement is one of the largest service contracts to date for BioFocus.
BioFocus, the services division of European drug discovery company Galapagos, has extended its drug discovery collaboration with US-based Amgen for biology, computational/medicinal chemistry services and supply of biologically-directed library compounds for Amgen's ion channel lead discovery programmes throughout 2006. This agreement is one of the largest service contracts to date for BioFocus.
Under the terms of the extended agreement, BioFocus will continue to provide Amgen with drug discovery expertise for multiple ion channel targets, including assay development, high throughput screening, chemistry and molecular informatics. In return, Galapagos will receive an upfront fee of US$2.3m. Additionally, Galapagos may receive compensation in the form of library and technology access fees, research fees, milestone payments, and bonuses. Should all clinical and commercial events be achieved, potential of event-dependent payments may exceed $30m.
The initial collaboration, announced in January 2003, involves the identification of lead candidates against multiple ion channel targets. 'BioFocus and Amgen have forged a strong collaborative relationship over the years, and we expect that the integration of BioFocus with Galapagos will bring together the full suite of target- and drug-discovery capabilities to Amgen's drug discovery programmes," said Onno van de Stolpe, ceo of Galapagos.