Argenta and BioFocus Announce Two-Year Extension Of Drug Discovery Collaboration with Genentech

Galapagos NV has announced that its service division Argenta has extended its integrated contract drug discovery agreement with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group. Total potential value of the contract extension is up to £21.5 million (€23.4 million).

This is the third such extension since the agreement was announced in December 2005. The agreement covers a number of drug discovery programs that utilize Argenta's expertise in computer-aided drug design (CADD), medicinal chemistry, in vitro biology and screening to discover new chemical entities acting against undisclosed drug targets defined by Genentech.

The extended agreement also allows Genentech to continue placing projects directly into Galapagos’ other service division, BioFocus, who will provide Genentech with integrated medicinal chemistry, in vitro biology and ADME services.

BioFocus has been working with Genentech since an amendment to the Argenta agreement was signed in September 2010.

“We are proud that Genentech again has selected Argenta for this major drug discovery collaboration,” said Dr Chris Newton, SVP Services of Galapagos.

Dr Newton continued, “The possibility for Genentech to continue placing projects directly with BioFocus also speaks to the complementary expertise and technological capabilities that Argenta and BioFocus possess.”