Galapagos announces natural compounds collaboration with LEO Pharma

    Mechelen, Belgium and Ballerup, Denmark; 1 November 2006 -  Galapagos
NV (Euronext  &  LSE:  GLPG) announces  a  first  collaboration  with
privately-held LEO  Pharma, a  leader in  dermatology treatments  and
critical care.  BioFocus DPI, Galapagos' service division, will use a
subset  of  its  natural  compound  collection  for  high  throughput
screening, hit verification, and profiling of selected compounds  for
LEO Pharma's antibacterial  research program.   In return,  Galapagos
stands to receive up to ¤400,000 in project fees and up to ¤3 million
in milestone payments.  Galapagos may also receive royalties on sales
of commercial products resulting from the collaboration.

Today's agreement  with LEO  Pharma marks  Galapagos' first  for  its
natural  compound  collection,  acquired  with  the  drug   discovery
activities of  Discovery Partners  International in  July 2006.    It
focuses on the discovery of  new antibacterial agents using  specific
targeted screens.    Screens  for new  antibiotics  are  particularly
appropriate for natural product discovery.

"We are pleased with this new  collaboration in many ways.  Not  only
do we initiate a  relationship with LEO Pharma,  but we also  confirm
the interest from the market for our newly-acquired natural compounds
collection and technologies  by landing this  high-value deal  within
only a few months after closing  the DPI transaction," said Onno  van
de Stolpe, Chief Executive Officer of Galapagos.

"We at LEO Pharma are delighted to enter into this collaboration with
BioFocus DPI  and expect  that gaining  access to  their  significant
repository  of  natural  product  subfractions  will  strengthen  our
antibiotic drug discovery program.  We  trust this will be the  start
of  a  successful   and  long  term   arrangement  to  discover   new
pharmaceutical  natural  products,"  said   Dr.  Tore  Duvold,   Vice
President for Drug Discovery at LEO Pharma.

BioFocus DPI natural compounds

Natural compounds are a major source of new medicines, as nearly half
of drugs  brought to  market in  the last  20 years  originated  from
compounds  derived   from  nature.     With   their  unique   organic
characteristics, natural compounds are especially important for  drug
development against certain target  classes.  BioFocus DPI's  natural
compound collections  are  based  on bacterial  and  fungal  sources,
offering  characteristics   differentiating  these   from   synthetic
chemistry  collections,  including   high  chemical  and   functional
diversity, potent pharmacological  activities over a  broad range  of
biological targets, and desirable physicochemical properties.

About Galapagos

Galapagos is a publicly traded, genomics-based drug discovery company
(Euronext Brussels,  GLPG;  Euronext Amsterdam,  GLPGA,  London  AiM:
GLPG) that has  drug discovery programs  based on proprietary,  novel
targets in bone and joint diseases - osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and
rheumatoid  arthritis.      Galapagos   offers  a   full   suite   of
target-to-drug discovery products and services to pharmaceutical  and
biotech companies  through its  division BioFocus  DPI,  encompassing
target discovery and drug discovery  services through to delivery  of
pre-clinical  candidates.    In   addition,  BioFocus  DPI   provides
adenoviral reagents for rapid identification and validation of  novel
drug targets and  compound libraries for  drug screening.   Galapagos
currently employs  more  than 330  people,  including 144  PhDs,  and
operates facilities in seven  countries, with global headquarters  in
Mechelen, Belgium.  More information about Galapagos and BioFocus DPI
can be found at www.glpg.com.

About LEO Pharma

LEO Pharma A/S is  a research-based, fully integrated  pharmaceutical
company among the world's leading players in dermatology and critical
care. The  foundation-owned  company  is  headquartered  in  Denmark,
employs 3,000 people in 40 countries  and markets its products in  90
countries.   Further information  about LEO  Pharma can  be found  at
www.leo-pharma.com.

CONTACT

Galapagos NV
Onno van de Stolpe, CEO
Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]

LEO Pharma A/S
Adam Estrup
Director, Corporate Communications
Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]

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