Argenta, Janssen Enter Cancer Drug Pact

Argenta Discovery Ltd., an affiliate of Galapagos, has entered into a drug discovery service agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica, related to several cancer drug candidates. Argenta will provide medicinal chemistry and biology for several Janssen oncology targets. If certain milestones are achieved, the total contract value could exceed $46.2 million during a five-year period.

Argenta will perform hit-to-lead and lead optimization for Janssen oncology targets, as well as provide services up until preclinical candidate selection. Janssen has the option to extend the services to include a total of as many as 15 targets.

“We are seeing an increased demand for longer-term, integrated deals in our services business, which access a variety of our drug discovery capabilities and with Argenta’s strong track record of delivering on integrated drug discovery programs, we are well positioned to meet this growing need,” said Onno van de Stolpe, chief executive officer of Galapagos.