Galapagos’ service companies, BioFocus and Argenta, have entered into a multi-year collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca to find new compounds against key targets in respiratory and inflammatory diseases.

Each AstraZeneca project will engage the medicinal chemistry, biology and ADME/PK capabilities of either BioFocus or Argenta, and will also be able to access the full suite of in vivo respiratory pharmacology models which reside within Argenta.

 “We continue to be impressed by the strength of the BioFocus and Argenta technology platforms and the evident depth of experience of the scientists that will be engaged on our projects addressing respiratory and inflammatory conditions,” said Dr. John Steele, vice president of R&I Innovative Medicines Science Unit, AstraZeneca.

“Both BioFocus and Argenta have worked extensively with AstraZeneca over the past 10 years, and this new collaborative agreement brings enormous capability and experience to each AstraZeneca project we work on,” said Dr. Chris Newton, senior vice president, Galapagos.

Financial details of the collaboration were not disclosed.