Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) announced positive top-line data from phase Ib study evaluating its osteoarthritis (“OA”) candidate, GLPG1972. The candidate reduced the level of ARGS neoepitope, a cartilage breakdown biomarker, by more than half in its highest dosage.
Shares of the company have risen 43.1% in the past year, outperforming the industry’s decline of 1.7% in that period.
The phase Ib study evaluated three doses of GLPG1972 versus placebo over a period of four weeks. GLPG1972 reduced level of ARGS neoepitope by 38.4%, 44.9% & 50.4% for low, medium and high dose, respectively, compared to 3.6% for placebo.
GLPG1972 works by targeting ADAMTS-5, a cartilage degrading enzyme.
Meanwhile, Galapagos is working on designing the phase II program to further evaluate the candidate in OA. The study is expected to start by the end of this year.
Apart from GLPG1972, Galapagos is also developing another candidate, filgotinib in Sjogren's syndrome, non-infectious uveitis, ankylosing spondylitis, and psoriatic arthritis. The company has a global collaboration with Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) for the development and commercialization of filgotinib in inflammatory indications.
Moreover, Galapagos is developing GLPG2222 in cystic fibrosis (“CF”) patients who are on long-term stable treatment with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated’s (NASDAQ:VRTX) CF drug, Kalydeco. In November last year, Galapagos announced positive top-line data from a phase II study, demonstrating an improvement of 2.2% in lung function compared to baseline.
The company has three CF candidate including GLPG2222, which are being developed in partnership with AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) .
Galapagos carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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