In a statement, Galapagos said the improved performance at Biofocus was the result of “improved gross margins and the divesture of loss-making operations,” including the sale of its San Diego-based chemistry unit to ChemVentures last November.
The service business was also boosted by the acquisition of the drug discovery business of UK-based Sareum Holdings, which added structural biology to BioFocus DPI’s preclinical drug discovery capabilities.
Commenting on the results, Galapagos chief executive Onno Van de Stolpe said Biofocus DPI benefitted from the extension of long-term service division agreements with Amgen, Eli Lilly and Merck-Serono during 2008, as well as signing a raft of new clients.
The company recently announced an extension of its drug discovery collaboration with Lilly – in which Biofocus DPI screens the pharma major’s compound library against an unnamed signal transduction target - out to the end of 2009. The two companies also have an active collaboration to develop new drug candidates for osteoporosis.
Van de Stolpe said on a conference call that the company expects to sign up another major client in 2009.
Overall, Galapagos achieved €77m in 2008 sales, posting a net loss down 33 per cent to €14.6m. The figures included a €4.1 million tax credit associated with its operations in Paris.
The groups said it expects to make revenues of €100m in 2009 and end the year with a cash balance of €20m.