Belgian biotech firm in €300m deal

Belgian biotech company Galapagos has signed a cooperation deal worth up to $405m (approximately €300m) with U.S. firm AbbVie to develop a new treatment for cystic fibrosis, reports Reuters’ Robert-Jan Bartunek. AbbVie will make an upfront payment of $45m and the Belgian firm is eligible for a further $360m in additional milestone payments as the project progresses, the companies said on Tuesday. Because of this announcement, Galapagos increased its 2013 cash balance guidance to €125m from the €100m it had guided for earlier. Cystic fibrosis, which the companies say affects some 70,000 patients worldwide, is a progressive hereditary disease for which there is currently no cure. The two companies will build on the research already done by Galapagos and aim to begin the first clinical studies in late 2014. Before the press release came out, the Belgian market regulator had suspended the shares which were trading 2% lower at the time. On Monday, AbbVie signed a deal with another Belgian biotech group, Ablynx, to develop an experimental drug for rheumatoid arthritis.