Galapagos and AbbVie aim to develop a promising therapy to address 90% of patients with CF (cystic fibrosis). It concerns a triple combination therapy. The companies plan to develop multiple candidates and backups for each of the three components (1st generation correctors, next generation correctors, and potentiators), with the goal of identifying a potential triple combination. In this way, they hope to bring a more effective therapy to patients.

Triple combinations of CF compounds in the portfolio have consistently shown restoration of healthy activity levels in in vitro assays with human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cells of patients with the F508del mutation. In addition to the potentiator and corrector that are being tested in the clinic, a total of four additional compounds have the potential to reach clinical development in the CF program this year.

“Galapagos and AbbVie continue to make strong progress with our cystic fibrosis portfolio,” says Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos. “The CF franchise has really expanded into a full-sized portfolio. The resulting breadth, depth, and preclinical promise of this collection of modulators brings us again closer to our aim of bringing a superior triple combination therapy to CF patients.”