MECHELEM, Germany—Following quickly on the heels of its acquisition of four properties from Discovery Partners International, which we cover in detail in July 2006 Drug Discovery News, Galapagos NV announced it had signed collaborations with two chemical services companies based in India.

 

Indus Biosciences, a subsidiary of CiVentiChem LLC in Hyderabad, and ProCitius, a division of Sanmar Speciality Chemicals Ltd in Chennai, are expected to provide support to the discovery products division of BioFocus DPI, Galapagos's service arm. They may also support projects conducted by the company's medicinal chemistry division.

 

According to Onno van de Stolpe, Galapagos CEO: "The alliance with GSK and the continuing growth of the BioFocus DPI customer base demand access to additional chemistry resources, and this is a timely move to ensure cost-effective capacity moving forward."