pensionado schreef op 9 december 2011 12:48:
Van Belegger.nl gepikt:
BRUSSELS, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Drug developer Galapagos NV <GLPG.BR> said the number of companies with which it is having partnership discussions had doubled after it released positive data on its lead drug, making a lucrative deal more likely for the company.
"We were in discussions with five companies before the announcement of the data, and after the announcement of the data that number has doubled," Chief Executive Onno van de Stolpe told Reuters on Thursday.
Galapagos reported last month that 83 percent of patients showed improvement in a four-week Phase II trial of the drug, a rheumatoid arthritis treatment knows as GLPG0634.
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Speculation that Galapagos is near to agreeing a partnership deal for the drug has driven its share price up by as much as 16 percent over the past two days, as of 1202 GMT.
Van de Stolpe said all 10 of the companies were now conducting due diligence in preparation for making a possible offer of a partnership to help develop and market the drug.
"They are seriously interested," van de Stolpe said during a telephone interview.
Terms of a possible deal will be drawn up within the next two weeks, he said, adding that a decision would likely be made at the end of this year or the beginning of next year.
"We are in the midst of a due diligence visit, that will be followed by term-sheet discussions, and then we'll have a discussion with my board to decide," he said.
Galapagos shares are still down 23 percent since the start of 2011, calculated from Wednesday's close, after it abandoned a trial of one of its key arthritis drugs in April.
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(Editing by David Holmes)
((ben.deighton@thomsonreuters.com)(+32 2287 6811)(Reuters
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