Exhibition Stands News
Galapagos announces partnership with Merck
21 Apr 2009
Pharmaceutical firm Galapagos NV has announced a multi-year global strategic alliance with Merck and Co.
Both companies will work to develop potential new therapies in inflammatory diseases.
The former will take on responsibility for the discovery and pre-clinical development of new small molecule candidate drugs, while the latter will have the exclusive option to license each candidate for clinical development and commercialisation.
"This new alliance with Merck in inflammatory diseases - our sixth pharma alliance to date - underscores the quality and versatility of Galapagos'' target discovery platform," explained chief executive Onno van de Stolpe.
He added the company has proven itself to potential partners looking to fill their pipelines with medicines based on novel modes of action.
The news comes as GlaxoSmithKline launches the first ever clinically-proven over-the-counter weight loss aid in Europe.
Known as either alli or orlistat 60 mg - is now available in pharmacies in all 27 European Union member states.