Galapagos’ Strategic Alliances Continue to Drive its Growth
April 2008
Galapagos’ Strategic Alliances Continue to Drive its Growth
In this exclusive interview, Fintan Walton talks to Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos.
Galapagos’ Strategic Alliances Continue to Drive its Growth
In this exclusive interview, Fintan Walton talks to Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos. Onno discusses the expansion of Galapagos over the last few years, especially in terms of the company’s pipeline. Much of this progress can be attributed to alliances with major pharmas, including GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly. Onno talks about the contribution of BioFocus DPI, Galapagos’ fee-for-service division, to the growth of the company. Galapagos’ deal with Janssen Pharmaceutica is also discussed and Onno dissects the structure of the deal. The acquisition of ProSkelia from ProStrakan is covered as well. Onno explains the reasons behind Galapagos’ decision to delist from AIM, and outlines the recent operation of the company’s Level 1 American Depositary Receipt (ADR) facility in the US. He discusses Galapagos’ gradual shift of its business model, and concludes the interview with his view on the possibility of divesting Biofocus DPI in the coming years.
Onno van de Stolpe
Onno van de Stolpe founded Galapagos in 1999 while he was Managing Director Genomics at Introgene (now Crucell). Before joining Introgene in 1998, he was Managing Director of Molecular Probes Europe. Onno established this European headquarters after joining Molecular Probes in the US. Previously, he worked for the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency in California, where he was responsible for recruiting biotech and medical device companies to locate in the Netherlands. He started his career as Manager Business Development at MOGEN in Leiden, and has a MSc degree from the Agricultural University in Wageningen.
About Galapagos
Galapagos is a drug discovery company with preclinical programmes in bone and joint diseases and cachexia. Its BioFocus DPI division offers a full suite of target-to-drug discovery products and services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies, encompassing target discovery and validation, screening, and drug discovery, through to the delivery of preclinical candidates. BioFocus DPI also provides adenoviral reagents for the rapid identification and validation of novel drug targets, compound libraries for drug screening, and chemogenomics and ADMET database products to select targets and compounds. Galapagos currently employs 460 people and operates facilities in seven countries, with global headquarters in Mechelen, Belgium.
