Galapagos

Galapagos, a biotechnology company founded in 1999 by Onno van de Stolpe, is headquartered in Mechelen, Belgium, with additional operations across Europe and in the United States. The company was established as a joint venture between Crucell and Tibotec, and its initial focus was on providing drug discovery services based on adenoviruses to introduce human gene sequences into a wide range of human cell lines for target validation.

Over the years, Galapagos has transitioned from a service-based company to a research and development-focused organization. A significant milestone in its history was the initial public offering on the Euronext Amsterdam and Brussels exchanges in 2005. The company further expanded its reach by listing on the Nasdaq in 2015. In 2019, Galapagos entered into a transformative collaboration with Gilead Sciences, a deal valued at over $5 billion. This partnership provided a significant influx of capital and resources, enabling the company to advance its clinical pipeline and expand its research capabilities.

Galapagos's business model is centered on the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel medicines. The company focuses on therapeutic areas with high unmet medical needs, particularly in inflammation and fibrosis. Its research and development efforts are driven by a target discovery platform that utilizes human primary cells and patient-specific cells to identify novel drug targets. The company's pipeline includes several clinical-stage programs for diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. In addition to its internal drug development programs, Galapagos also has a service division, Fidelta, which operates as a fee-for-service contract research organization, providing integrated drug discovery services to other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Keywords: biotechnology, drug discovery, inflammation, fibrosis, clinical trials, small molecule medicines, cell therapy, contract research, biopharmaceutical, R&D