Argenta, a service division of Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG), announced today it has signed a contract extension with Genentech, Inc., a member of the Roche Group (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY).  The extended agreement expands the portfolio of projects which are in collaboration with Genentech and allows Genentech to place projects directly into Galapagos' other service division, BioFocus. 

Argenta's collaboration with Genentech dates back to 2005.  The current agreement covers a number of drug discovery programs that utilize Argenta's expertise in computer-aided drug design (CADD), medicinal chemistry, and in vitro biology and screening to discover new chemical entities acting against undisclosed drug targets defined by Genentech.  Under the amendment announced today, BioFocus will provide Genentech with integrated medicinal chemistry, in vitro biology and ADME services.

 "We are delighted that Genentech has expanded its small-molecule drug discovery outsourcing into BioFocus, and we regard it as testament to the complementary expertise and technological capabilities that Argenta and BioFocus possess," said Chris Newton, Senior Vice President, Galapagos Services.

About BioFocus

BioFocus aims to expand its partners' drug pipelines by accelerating the gene-to-drug candidate discovery process.  This is achieved through a comprehensive discovery platform, which includes target discovery in human primary cells, focused as well as diverse compound libraries, in vitro and cell-based screening, structural biology, medicinal chemistry, ADME/PK services, supported by unique chemogenomic and informatics tools, and compound library acquisition, storage and distribution services.  As a service division of Galapagos, BioFocus has over 250 employees in four countries worldwide.  More info at: www.biofocus.com 

About Argenta

Argenta's contract research, which includes expertise in medicinal chemistry, computer-aided drug discovery, in vitro biology, analytics, in vivo pharmacokinetics, pharmacology and world-leading respiratory models, has a strong reputation for scientific excellence.  Argenta was acquired by Galapagos in February 2010 and employs over 140 people in the UK with its main operations in Harlow.  More info at: www.argentadiscovery.com

BioFocus^® is a trademarks of Galapagos NV and/or its affiliates © Copyright 2010 Galapagos NV.