Galapagos receives €2.5 million IWT grant for antibiotic research
22 Janeiro 2015 - 4:31AM
Mechelen,
Belgium; 22 January 2015 - Galapagos NV (Euronext:
GLPG) announces that the Flemish Agency for Innovation
through Science and Technology (IWT) has awarded a €2.5 million
grant to support the development of Galapagos' novel antibiotics in
a collaboration project with Prof. Goossens from the University of
Antwerp (UA).
GLPG1492 ('1492) is a narrow
spectrum antibiotic with a novel mode-of-action against all
Staphylococcus aureas strains, including MRSA, the bacteria for
which due to resistance, few treatment options are available.
Galapagos plans for '1492 to be dosed in healthy volunteers (Phase
1) in 2015. '1492 has shown excellent antibacterial efficacy,
with broad coverage of all known MRSA strains. The novel mode
of action for '1492 can be utilized as a platform for addressing
gram positive and gram negative bacteria that pose major public
health threats, including the ESKAPE pathogens. '1492 is fully
proprietary to Galapagos.
Today's grant, awarded via the
transformational medical research (TGO) program, was for the
project 'Partnering tiered clinical Phase II anti-MRSA antibiotic
with rapid diagnostic test development,' in which Galapagos will
collaborate with the Laboratory of Medical Microbiology of UA.
In this project, innovative clinical research will be
explored, allowing for more efficient development of narrow
spectrum antibiotics targeted at combatting resistance. To
further support the pathogenic focus, rapid diagnostic test
development will be set up. The UA will perform basic
research focusing on further understanding of antibiotic resistance
mechanisms.
"We appreciate the support of the
IWT for our research," said Dr Piet Wigerinck, Chief Scientific
Officer of Galapagos. "There is a large unmet medical need
for small spectrum antibiotics addressing MRSA and other major
public health threats."
Herman Goossens, Head of the
Microbiology laboratory of the UA, commented: "By funding this
Public Private Partnership between Galapagos and the UA, we should
be able to give fresh impetus to the successful development of new
drugs against multi-resistant bugs that have already killed so many
people worldwide."
About antibiotic
resistance and MRSA
Hospital-treated infections of highly resistant bacteria pose a
major public health threat. Widespread use of broad spectrum
antibiotics addressing a wide variety of pathogens has led to
resistance to these treatments. When broad spectrum treatment
does not work, the patient is treated in the hospital with small
spectrum antibiotics directed specifically toward the pathogen
infecting the patient. Due to increasing resistance to broad
spectrum antibiotics, the drug market for key hospital-treated
infections is expected to increase from $3.3 billion in 2010 to
just over $4 billion in 2020 in the USA, the EU and Japan. In
particular, there is an urgent need to provide tools to prevent
MRSA to become a community acquired infection. Availability
of a novel drug that would be able to treat MRSA would be an added
value for the public health sector by being able to limit
hospitalization time as well the positive impact on the mortality
numbers and to avoid further spread.
About
Galapagos
Galapagos (Euronext: GLPG; OTC: GLPYY) is specialized in novel
modes-of-action, with a large pipeline comprising three Phase 2
programs, two Phase 1 studies, five pre-clinical, and 25 discovery
small-molecule and antibody programs in cystic fibrosis,
inflammation, antibiotics, metabolic disease, and other
indications. In the field of inflammation, AbbVie and
Galapagos signed an agreement for the development and
commercialization of GLPG0634. GLPG0634 is an
orally-available, selective inhibitor of JAK1 for the treatment of
rheumatoid arthritis and potentially other inflammatory diseases,
currently in Phase 2B studies in RA and in Phase 2 in Crohn's
disease. Galapagos has another selective JAK1 inhibitor,
GSK2586184 (formerly GLPG0778, in-licensed by GlaxoSmithKline in
2012). GLPG1205, a first-in-class inhibitor of GPR84, is
currently being tested in a Phase 2 Proof-of-Concept study in
ulcerative colitis patients. GLPG1690 is a first-in-class
compound that targets pulmonary diseases and is currently in a
Phase 1 study. AbbVie and Galapagos signed an agreement in
cystic fibrosis to develop and commercialize molecules that address
mutations in the CFTR gene. Potentiator GLPG1837 is currently
in Phase 1, and corrector GLPG2222 is at the pre-clinical candidate
stage. The Galapagos Group, including fee-for-service
subsidiary Fidelta, has around 400 employees, operating from its
Mechelen, Belgium headquarters and facilities in The Netherlands,
France, and Croatia. Further information at: www.glpg.com
CONTACT
Galapagos NV
Elizabeth Goodwin, Head of Corporate Communications &
IR
Tel: +31 6 2291 6240
ir@glpg.com
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Source: Galapagos NV via Globenewswire
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