Galapagos presents pre-clinical data with selective ADAMTS-5 inhibitor GLPG1972 for osteoarthritis at OARSI

Mechelen, Belgium; 29 April 2017, 7.30 CET -Galapagos NV (Euronext & NASDAQ: GLPG) announces presentation of pre-clinical pharmacology data with GLPG1972 at the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) annual meeting today in Las Vegas, USA.

Galapagos and collaboration partner Servier are developing a potential disease-modifying oral therapy for osteoarthritis with GLPG1972.

Galapagos today discloses that GLPG1972 is a potent and highly selective inhibitor of ADAMTS-5, a  well-established target in the literature for osteoarthritis. ADAMTS-5 is a key enzyme involved in cartilage breakdown (Larkin 2015). At the OARSI 2017 World Congress, Galapagos presents pre-clinical pharmacology data with GLPG1972 showing cartilage protection in both rodent and human explant assays. Disease-modifying activity with GLPG1972 in the gold-standard, destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) rodent model will also be presented.

Galapagos previously announced that a Phase 1 study in healthy human volunteers demonstrated favorable safety and PK profiles of GLPG1972, and up to 60% reduction in a cartilage breakdown biomarker within two weeks of treatment. This biomarker is serum ARGS-neoepitope, which is formed from cartilage through ADAMTS-5 and thus serves as a biomarker for target engagement.

"Osteoarthritis is a disease with very limited treatment options, and none which actually addresses the cause of the disease.  By inhibiting ADAMTS-5, for which the literature evidence is growing,   GLPG1972 could play a central role in osteoarthritis," said Dr Piet Wigerinck, Chief Scientific Officer of Galapagos. "We are eager to see if we can repeat in patients the same impact on cartilage breakdown biomarker ARGS-neoepitope as we saw in healthy volunteers."

In July 2010, Servier and Galapagos announced their alliance to develop innnovative oral medicines for the treatment of osteoarthritis. Galapagos is responsible for the discovery and development of new candidate drugs against novel targets, and Servier has an exclusive option to license these candidates after the completion of the Phase 1 trial and Phase 2A enabling activities. Under this agreement, Galapagos is eligible to receive up to €290 million in success-based milestones, plus royalties on sales.