Earlier this year, AbbVie turned down its deal with Galapagos for co-development and commercializiation of the drug filgotinib for treatment of reumathoid arthritis. Last week, Galapagos announced that filgotinib also has great potential against Crohn’s disease. This news did not pass unnoticed; Galapagos managed to close a new deal with Gilead Sciences for co-development and commercialization of filgotinib, and it is giant!
Galapagos will receive 725 million dollars, of which 300 dollars as a license fee and 425 million dollars equity investment. It can also receive up to 1.35 billion dollars in milestone payments. Gilead will be responsible for manufacturing and worldwide marketing and sales activities.
“Gilead shares our goal of rapidly delivering these therapies to patients,” says Onno Van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos. “The co-development and co-promotion aspects of this collaboration bring us into the next phase of the company’s evolution.”
“This partnership represents an opportunity to add complementary clinical programs to our growing inflammation research and development efforts,” adds Norbert Bischofberger, Gilead’s Executive Vice President, Research and Development and Chief Scientific Officer. The companies will jointly collaborate on the global development of filgotinib, starting with the initiation of Phase 3 trials in RA.