Galapagos NV has acquired Cangenix Ltd. for $1.9 million and a potential further payment of $708.7 million based on the achievement of certain conditions. The acquisition adds a structure-based drug discovery platform to Galapagos’ Argenta service offering. Argenta will integrate all of Cangenix’s assets, personnel and service contracts with its capabilities in hit finding and medicinal chemistry. The Cangenix team will join Argenta but will continue to operate the platform in its premises in Canterbury, Kent, UK. Cangenix was formed in 2011 by former Pfizer employees from the Structural Biology and Biophysics group at Pfizer’s Sandwich site.
 
“We welcome the Cangenix team and their clients to the Galapagos group,” said Onno van de Stolpe, chief executive officer of Galapagos. “The assets and expertise of Cangenix really address a growing client need at Argenta. We look forward to extending and expanding this business.”
 
“I am confident that Cangenix’s expertise in structure-based drug discovery services will enable Argenta to design better drugs for clients,” said Prof David Brown, chief executive officer, Cangenix Ltd.
 
Additionally, Galapagos’ research site in Zagreb, Croatia (acquired from GSK in 2010) will form a new service division called Fidelta. The new drug discovery service unit will provide chemistry, pharmacology (both in vitro and in vivo), biomarker, toxicology and ADME/PK services, with specific experience in inflammation, infectious, metabolic, and oncology diseases.
 
Fidelta will be led by Phil Dudfield, who has extensive experience in drug discovery within large pharma and Galapagos. Mr. Dudfield also spent five years running fee-for-service groups at BioFocus, a service division of Galapogos.
 
“With the creation of a third service division we can offer a broader range of services to our customers,” said Mr. van de Stolpe. “With this change we can further strengthen our worldwide leadership position in drug discovery services, ranging from target discovery all the way through to the delivery of preclinical candidates, in key disease areas for our clients.”