Belgo-Dutch biotech Galapagos announced this week that it would be implementing a new organizational strategy called “Forward, Faster,” which will shift the company’s focus and, in the process, claim 200 positions across European sites.
In the statement shared, Galapagos’ CEO said that “Forward, Faster” will guide the company forward in three pillar areas: a shift from novel target-based discovery to patient-centric research specifically for immunology and oncology, an investment in its current drug modalities including CAR-T, and an increase on its business development efforts.
The organizational changes were revealed in its financial results for the first nine months of 2022, which reported group revenues of €410.2 million ($407.58) but an operating loss of €134.24 million. The company also shared updates on its rheumatoid arthritis drug Jyseleca — which is currently approved in the EMA – but rejected by the FDA in 2020 over concerns of sperm count impact in patients.
The JAK1 inhibitor had been pegged to become a blockbuster and was jointly developed with Gilead. Their $5 billion, 10-year collaboration was announced in 2019 and allows Gilead to leverage Galapagos’ team of more than 500 scientists and drug discovery platform to develop a portfolio in the anti-inflammatory market.
Despite regulatory woes in the U.S., Galapagos reported "a strong adoption across Europe with reimbursement for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 15 countries and for ulcerative colitis (UC) in 10 countries," for Jyeseleca.
