LONDON—Working through its Infectious Diseases Centre of Excellence in Drug Discovery (ID CEDD), GSK announced it has formed an alliance with Galapagos NV to license potential drug candidates directed to up to six anti-infective targets. The deal will start with an upfront payment of up to €3.5 million, but may also include another €95 million in development and regulatory milestone payments, €120 million for sales milestones, and double-digit royalties on commercialized products.
Starting with the natural products portfolio of its services arm BioFocus DPI, Galapagos will be responsible for discovery and development of small-molecule candidates through to clinical proof-of-concept. GSK will then have the exclusive option to license any candidates for further development and global commercialization. Galapagos retains the right to develop and commercialize any candidates for which GSK does not exercise the option.
"We recognize the significant unmet medical needs in hospital or community-acquired bacterial infections plus life-threatening viral diseases," says Zhi Hong, SVP and Head of ID CEDD. "It is therefore prudent to explore novel chemical space and targets that offer new prospects for treatments across a range of infectious diseases.
"Galapagos has been a productive collaborator for GSK in the existing osteoarthritis alliance, and we are confident this new alliance based on natural products will contribute to the advancement of our drug discovery and development programmes in infectious diseases."
