BioCentury
ARTICLE | Company News

Charles River to acquire Galapagos service divisions

March 13, 2014 11:39 PM UTC

CRO Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (NYSE:CRL) will acquire the Argenta Discovery Ltd. and BioFocus drug discovery service divisions of Galapagos N.V. (Euronext:GLPG; Pink:GLPYY) in a deal worth up to EUR 134 million ($186.2 million). Galapagos will receive EUR 129 million ($179.3 million) in cash and is eligible for EUR 5 million ($6.9 million) in milestones tied to an undisclosed revenue target for the year after the deal closes. Argenta and BioFocus had combined 2013 revenues of EUR 63 million ($87.5 million). The deal is slated to close early next quarter.

Galapagos said the deal will allow the company to focus on its R&D pipeline, which includes lead candidate GLPG0634. The Janus kinase-1 (JAK-1) inhibitor is partnered with AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) and is in Phase II testing to treat Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). ...