BioFocus, a leading provider of integrated gene-to-clinical candidate drug discovery services, announced today that it has expanded a collaboration with Chiesi Farmaceutici, a privately held Italian pharmaceutical company.  Total value for the collaboration with Chiesi has now reached €2.5 million.

BioFocus and Chiesi began their collaboration in December 2009 and recently extended it for one year.  Under the terms of the extended collaboration agreement, BioFocus will provide medicinal chemistry and biology services, with an additional option for ADME services, for an undisclosed Chiesi therapeutic program.

"BioFocus has a high return business rate with clients, and we are pleased that Chiesi has chosen to extend this successful collaboration," said Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos.  "The quality of the science at BioFocus enables it to sustain its position as a premier provider in drug discovery services."

"The medicinal chemistry and biology work performed by BioFocus has so far helped us to accelerate progress on our therapeutic programs.  We look forward to working with BioFocus to move these programs forward toward the clinic," said Dr Paolo Chiesi, R&D Director and Vice-President of Chiesi Farmaceutici. 

About Chiesi Farmaceutici

With over 3,500 employees around the world, the Chiesi Group produces and distributes successful drugs in 65 countries, and is present on 5 continents with 24 direct affiliates, 4 research centres, and 3 production sites. Respiratory pathologies, special care medicine, and cardiovascular disease are its traditional areas of expertise where it offers many therapeutic options recognized for their effectiveness.  More info at: www.chiesigroup.com  

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 based in the UK, the US and Switzerland.  More info at: www.biofocus.com

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