Boehringer Ingelheim licenses drug targets from autoimmune collaboration with Galapagos

MECHELEN, BELGIUM–(EMWNews – July 17, 2008) –

Mechelen, Belgium; 17 July 2008 – Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG)

announced today that Boehringer Ingelheim has exercised its right to

license two drug targets from the autoimmune research agreement with

Galapagos’ BioFocus DPI service division, resulting in a milestone

payment to Galapagos.

This is the second milestone reached in the three-year collaboration

initially announced in January 2006. In the collaboration, BioFocus

DPI applied its SilenceSelect® shRNA-based gene collection to run a

target discovery screen for Boehringer Ingelheim’s autoimmune

discovery research. BioFocus DPI obtained upfront fees, research and

development funding and will receive milestone fees when certain drug

discovery criteria are met. Should all criteria on a target be

achieved, total potential contract value for BioFocus DPI may exceed

EUR 2 million per target.

“We are delighted that targets identified through our shRNA screening

approach have met Boehringer’s selection criteria,” said Onno van de

Stolpe, Chief Executive Officer of Galapagos. “This is further

testament that the target discovery research performed at Galapagos

and BioFocus DPI meets the standards of the world’s leading

pharmaceutical companies.”

About Galapagos

Galapagos (Euronext Brussels: GLPG; Euronext Amsterdam: GLPGA; OTC:

GLPYY) is a drug discovery company with pre-clinical programs in bone

and joint diseases and bone metastasis. Its BioFocus DPI division

offers a full suite of target-to-drug discovery products and services

to pharmaceutical and biotech companies, encompassing target

discovery and validation, screening and drug discovery through to

delivery of pre-clinical candidates. BioFocus DPI also provides

adenoviral reagents for rapid identification and validation of novel

drug targets, compound libraries for drug screening as well as

chemogenomics and ADMET database products to select targets and

compounds. Galapagos currently employs 470 people and operates

facilities in six countries, with global headquarters in Mechelen,

Belgium. More information about Galapagos and BioFocus DPI can be

found at www.glpg.com and www.biofocusdpi.com.

CONTACT



Galapagos NV

Onno van de Stolpe, CEO

Tel: +31 6 2909 8028

[email protected]

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