Galapagos shares surge on Phase I trial launch

Shares of Belgium's Galapagos surged on today's news that researchers had pushed its experimental therapy for rheumatoid arthritis into a Phase I human trial.

GLPG0259-- targets protein kinase MAPKAPK5--is the first small molecule from Galapagos' target discovery platform to enter the clinic. Johnson & Johnson company Jannsen has an option to license the worldwide rights to it for €60 million following a successful Phase IIa trial. And the developer earn another €776 million in milestone payments.

"Today's entry into the clinic is a true landmark for Galapagos," said Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos. "This is the first candidate medicine based on our target platform to enter the clinic and I am extremely proud of our team who made this achievement possible. We moved this RA program from concept to clinic in less than five years. Furthermore, we possess a broad portfolio of programs that further solidifies our activity in this therapeutic area."

Galapagos stock jumped eight percent on the news of the Phase I trial.

- check out Galapagos' release

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