Galapagos NV has entered into new collaboration agreements with Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Total value of the contracts for Galapagos is €1.1 million over one year.

Galapagos' service division BioFocus DPI will provide SoftFocus compounds for use in Merck Serono's drug discovery programmes. In a separate agreement, BioFocus DPI will perform medicinal chemistry services on an undisclosed Merck Serono programme; this represents an extension of a long running collaboration which was last expanded in 2005.

"BioFocus DPI has a long relationship with Merck Serono in medicinal chemistry, which we are pleased to extend again this year," said Onno van de Stolpe, CEO of Galapagos. "The purchase of BioFocus DPI's SoftFocus libraries underscores our ability to grow business with clients."

Galapagos is a drug discovery company with pre-clinical programmes in bone and joint diseases and bone metastasis.