MECHELEN, Belgium, May 24, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Galapagos NV, a genomics-based drug discovery company, announces changes to its Board of Directors. In view of Galapagos' listing on Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Brussels, Galapagos' Board has changed in composition. Ferdinand Verdonck has joined Galapagos as Independent Director, while Harrold van Barlingen has joined as Dependent Director.Mr. Verdonck (62) most recently was managing director of Almanij (then parent company of and now merged with KBC). He currently is on the board of several companies, including Banco Urquijo (Spain) and Dictaphone (USA). He has a professional background in financial services. His responsibilities entailed board participation in publicly traded and privately-held companies in many countries. He holds a law degree from the KU Leuven and degrees in economics from KU Leuven and the University of Chicago.
Dr. Van Barlingen (39) heads the Life Sciences Investments activities at AlpInvest Partners, one of the largest private equity investors worldwide. Previously, he was at the Boston Consulting Group, where he worked as a consultant in management and strategy. Prior to BCG, Van Barlingen headed the Benelux office of the Lewin Group, an international firm specialized in the field of health economy. He holds a MSc in Medical Biology and a PhD in the area of cardiovascular diseases, both from the University of Utrecht.
As a consequence of the listing of Galapagos on Euronext, Ronald Brus (CEO of Crucell and Director since June 1999), Stephen Bunting (Managing Director of Abingworth and Director since March 2002), Steven Burrill (Managing Director of Burrill and Director since March 2003) and Dirk Pollet (VP Business Development of Galapagos and Director since November 2000) have stepped down as Directors of Galapagos.
Galapagos' Board of Directors now consists of the following:
Raj Parekh, PhD - Chairman Onno van de Stolpe - CEO Harrold van Barlingen, PhD Laurent Ganem, MD Barry Ross, PhD Wilson Totten, MD Ferdinand Verdonck
About Galapagos
Galapagos is a publicly traded, genomics-based drug discovery company (Euronext Brussels, GLPG; Euronext Amsterdam, GLPGA) that has successfully discovered and validated novel targets in the bone and joint diseases -- osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as in asthma and Alzheimer's disease. Proprietary targets and compounds resulting from these programs are used for Galapagos' internal drug discovery programs, combined with selected out-licensing and partnering of projects during development. Galadeno, Galapagos' services unit, provides reagents and functional screens to leading pharmaceutical, biotech and nutraceutical companies for rapid identification and validation of novel drug targets. Galapagos currently employs 68 people, including 16 PhDs, and occupies facilities in Mechelen, Belgium, and Leiden, The Netherlands. Partners include Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, GlaxoSmithKline, Vertex and Wyeth. For more information, visit www.glpg.com.