J&J unit to pay $8.7M to Galapagos for drug candidate

Belgian biotech Galapagos ($GLPG) has made progress in its alliance with the Janssen Pharmaceutica unit of healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ), revealing today that it has identified the first preclinical candidate in the collaboration. Janssen is expected to pay the biotech €6.6 million ($8.7 million) for the achievement. Galapagos didn't reveal the specific target for the drug, but it did say it will begin work needed before the candidate moves into Phase I development. Release