For many years, Galapagos has been the success story of the Belgian-Dutch biotech sector, with a promising treatment in a very competitive therapeutic class. After the end of the alliance with AbbVie to finance the development of Filgotinib in rheumatoid arthritis, the group had rebounded quickly by allying with Gilead Sciences, an operation which has returned more than 5 billion dollars in the coffers. The year 2020, however, looked like a long descent into hell for Galapagos, with a decline of 55% since the beginning of January; while ArgenX, the other biotech in the Bel 20 index, rose by 71% in the same interval.
The fall of Galapagos unfolded in several phases, caused by the various news which gradually mortgaged the commercial future of Filgotinib in rheumatoid arthritis on the American market. After an increase to almost 250 euros at the start of the year due to optimism about the approval of the treatment, the pandemic caused a first decline between 150 and 200 euros.
Then came the announcement in August that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was demanding more data on sperm concentration in Filgotinib users taking the 200 mg dose. After fluctuating between 100 and 125 euros during the last two months, the price then plunged below 80 euros following the announcement that Gilead Sciences and Galapagos had decided to withdraw the file following in-depth contacts with the FDA, considering that approval in rheumatoid arthritis would have required significant additional clinical trials to arrive significantly behind competing treatments.
A well-supplied pipeline
Most analysts are now in a neutral position on the title, with a valuation that seems to have now bottomed out. The market capitalization of 5.2 billion euros today mainly reflects the cash available on the balance sheet, even if the pipeline remains fairly well supplied, and even if Filgotinib will be marketed in Europe and other regions of the world. There will be plenty of news on the pipeline over the next few months, including phase 3 trials for Ziritaxestat (GLPG1690 in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis), and Galapagos still has many programs in development, and sufficient funding to support them. develop.
–
