Galapagos awarded European Union grant

    Mechelen, Belgium; 4 December  2006 - Galapagos  NV (Euronext &  LSE:
GLPG) has  secured a  European Union  grant of  ¤500,000 for  service
division  BioFocus  DPI's  participation  in  PROLIGEN,  a   research
consortium focused on enhancing regeneration of injured kidneys.

The PROLIGEN consortium,  comprising a number  of European  companies
and universities,  aims  to  improve  the  regenerative  capacity  of
injured kidneys, using information derived from genomics, proteomics,
and functional genomics.  Under the terms of the agreement,  BioFocus
DPI will use  its SilenceSelect and  FLeXSelect adenoviral  libraries
and cellular assay expertise  to identify targets  that can serve  as
starting points for  the development of  novel treatment methods  for
kidney injury.  The resulting gene function information will  provide
the  PROLIGEN  consortium   the  necessary  tools   to  deliver   new
biologicals and cell-based therapies for kidney regeneration.

"That Galapagos' core target discovery engine can play such a central
role  in  the  EU's  new  kidney  regeneration  research  effort   is
gratifying and provides strong support for its potential  application
in other areas of unmet medical  need," said Onno van de Stolpe,  CEO
of Galapagos.

About PROLIGEN

The  PROLIGEN   consortium   brings  together   selected   academics,
clinicians,  and  industry   experts  to   deliver  new   therapeutic
approaches to regenerative medicine.  Consortium members include  the
Consejo  Superior  de  Investigaciones  Científicas  -  Instituto  de
Investigaciones Biomédicas  de  Barcelona and  the  Fundació  Privada
Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge in Spain, the Klinikum
der Johann Wolfgang  Goethe Universität  in Germany,  Genedata AG  in
Switzerland, ProtEra s.r.l. in Italy, Leiden University and  BioFocus
DPI in  the  Netherlands.    PROLIGEN's approach  is  to  define  and
identify a set of proteins  associated with functional recovery  from
renal injury, build  up high  throughput test systems  to follow  the
basic biological process involved in regeneration and use these  read
out systems to  identify novel  targets, followed  by development  of
biologicals and cell  based therapy for  the regeneration of  injured
kidneys.  The European Union's Sixth Framework Program is  supporting
PROLIGEN's efforts with ¤2.5 million in funding over three years.

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.

CONTACT

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

This  release  may  contain  forward-looking  statements,  including,
without  limitation,  statements  containing  the  words  "believes,"
"anticipates," "expects," "intends,"  "plans", "seeks,"  "estimates,"
"may,"  "will,"  "could,"    and  "continues,"  as  well  as  similar
expressions.  Such forward-looking  statements may involve known  and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which might cause  the
actual results, financial condition,  performance or achievements  of
Galapagos, or industry results, to  be materially different from  any
historic or  future  results, financial  conditions,  performance  or
achievements   expressed   or   implied   by   such   forward-looking
statements.  Given these uncertainties, the reader is advised not  to
place any undue reliance on  such forward-looking statements.   These
forward-looking statements speak only as  of the date of  publication
of this document.   Galapagos expressly  disclaims any obligation  to
update any  such  forward-looking  statements  in  this  document  to
reflect any change  in its  expectations with regard  thereto or  any
change in  events,  conditions or  circumstances  on which  any  such
statement is based, unless required by law or regulation.

This communication  reflects only  the  view of  Galapagos NV.    The
European Union is  not liable for  any use  that may be  made of  the
information contained in this press release.

SilenceSelect® and FLeXSelect® are registered trademarks of Galapagos
NV and/or its affiliates.

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